Toilet paper flies, JBU rolls

n The Golden Eagles moved to 35-1 all time in the Toilet Paper Game.

Andy Shupe/NWA Democrat-Gazette Brandon Joseph, No. 24, of John Brown University looks to drive around Jayln McBride of Central Baptist College Saturday at Bill George Arena on the JBU campus in Siloam Springs. Joseph scored 19 points in the Golden Eagles’ 104-94 victory.
Andy Shupe/NWA Democrat-Gazette Brandon Joseph, No. 24, of John Brown University looks to drive around Jayln McBride of Central Baptist College Saturday at Bill George Arena on the JBU campus in Siloam Springs. Joseph scored 19 points in the Golden Eagles’ 104-94 victory.

John Brown University improved to 35-1 all-time in its annual Toilet Paper Game on Saturday night, knocking off an athletic Central Baptist College squad 104-94.

Bentonville native Jake Caudle sank a floater in the lane for the game's opening points, sending the jam-packed Bill George Arena into a frenzy, hurling thousands of toilet paper rolls onto the court.

John Brown 104, Central Baptist 94

Central Baptist 38 56 — 94

John Brown 52 52 — 104

Central Baptist (0-1): Albright 20, Evans 18, Green 17, Jones 13, Anderson 9, Ford 7, Ettiene 4, Perkins 3, Reed 2, Gipson 1.

John Brown (1-0): Roberts 31, Joseph 19, Smith 14, Caudle 11, Egedi 10, Waller 10, English 5, Toussaint 2, Martinez 2.

"It's something else," said Caudle, who finished with 11 points and six assists. "Me and the guys were joking about it in the locker room before the game about who was going to get the first bucket. I cheated, I took two chances at it. It's just indescribable."

Golden Eagles coach Jason Beschta said he's not big on designing a play just for the first field goal of the Toilet Paper Game, which draws an automatic technical foul.

"It's just going to break down," he laughed. "But that was really neat. It was really neat to see."

Behind a trio of 3-pointers, Beschta's club led the Mustangs 25-14 with just over 11 minutes left in the first half, and created even more separation in the final two minutes by reeling off eight straight points. Caudle and Ricky Roberts each connected on triples and junior forward Samuel Egedi capped the spurt with a layup to give the Golden Eagles their biggest lead of the night at 52-37.

John Brown took a 52-38 lead into halftime behind 12 points from Roberts and Brandon Joseph. Sophomore forward Benjamin Smith of Bentonville also added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and four rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

Following the opening play of the second half, Central Baptist coach Wes Sullivan called timeout 15 seconds in after Smith slipped to the basket for an uncontested layup. After that, the Mustangs made things interesting. Thanks to CBC guard Fred Albright and some chaotic full-court pressure, the visitors cut the John Brown lead to six, 75-69, with less than 10 minutes to go.

The Mustangs would cut their deficit to five a handful of times, but got no closer. Roberts, who led all scorers with 31 points for John Brown, delivered from the free throw line, sinking 17 of 22 attempts to help secure the win.

"Personally, I felt like I had to step up and be a leader on this team," said Roberts, who's beginning his second year in the program. "All the guys competed hard and we came through. We had some adversity hit us in the game, but it was a great test for us."

Aside from Roberts' big night, Beschta was pleased with the play of his underclassmen. John Brown finished with five players in double figures, four being sophomores. Joseph aided Roberts with 19 points on 4-of-6 from distance.

Three-point defense was another bright spot for the Golden Eagles as they held CBC to 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from deep. And while John Brown shot 57 percent from the floor in the win, the Mustangs connected on just 31 of 79 shots (39 percent). Despite the loss, visiting CBC players were glad to be a part of the atmosphere.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Central Baptist forward Stephen Ramsey, a Chicago native. "This is an awesome experience."

John Brown will return to the floor Thursday at Lyon College in Batesville. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Sports on 11/02/2016