Former Arkansas All-American and NBA veteran Todd Day knows a thing or two about shooting the basketball, but even Day was impressed with what he saw Monday night.
John Brown sophomores Benjamin Smith and Josh Bowling came off the bench and combined to hit 14 of 15 shots from the field and score 40 points, and the Golden Eagles blew open a close game in the second half in a 93-67 victory over Philander Smith at Bill George Arena.
Sooner Athletic Conference Basketball Standings
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Oklahoma City^0-0^6-0
Texas Wesleyan^0-0^7-1
Mid-America Christian^0-0^7-1
SW Assemblies of God^0-0^8-2
Wayland Baptist^0-0^7-2
John Brown^0-0^7-3
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St. Gregory’s^0-0^4-3
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Bacone^0-0^2-4
This week
Monday’s results
John Brown 93, Philander Smith 67
Wiley College 70, Texas Wesleyan 61
SW Assemblies of God 102, Dallas Christian 76
Tuesday’s results
Science and Arts at Langston (n)
Wiley College at Mid-America Christian (n)
Thursday’s games
Oklahoma City at John Brown
Wayland Baptist at Southwestern Christian
Texas Wesleyan at Mid-America Christian
St. Gregory’s at Bacone
Saturday’s games
John Brown at St. Gregory’s
Wayland Baptist at Oklahoma City
Science and Arts at Southwestern Christian
Bacone at Mid-America Christian
SW Assemblies of God at Texas Wesleyan
JBU hit 10 of 14 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half and finished 15 of 24 overall, led by Smith who hit all seven of the 3-point shots he attempted.
"They've got some great shooters out there," said Day, the leading scorer in Razorback history and now in his first year as head coach at Philander Smith. "They spread the floor well. They've got a great attacking guard which feeds off them. Like you said, they shoot the ball well. They shot the ball well at our place. We were just able to get lucky, and they missed a few shots down the stretch."
John Brown (7-3) avenged an 84-80 loss to the Panthers in Little Rock on Nov. 19 in the process.
"It was a really good win," said Smith. "They beat us the first time. We really wanted to come back and get this one back."
Smith, a former Bentonville standout, finished with 23 points and hit 8 of 9 shots from the field, while Bowling was 6 of 6 from the floor and scored 17 points.
"The shot felt good in warm-ups," Smith said. "My teammates did a good job of driving and really they drew my man. That got me open."
Smith and Jake Caudle of Bentonville each had three treys in the first half as John Brown (7-3) led 41-31 at halftime.
Philander Smith cut the JBU lead to one point, 47-46, with 12:19 left in the second half after a pair of free throws by Darrin Kee, but the Panthers (5-3) couldn't catch JBU.
Leading 62-57 later in the second half, Smith hit three consecutive 3-pointers as JBU's lead ballooned to 71-59. He added his seventh 3-pointer with 2:20 left for an 83-65 lead.
"He had two or three (3-pointers) pretty quick there in a stretch in the first half that we needed, because we started off and we're down a little bit," said JBU coach Jason Beschta. "He got us that lead. And like you said in the second half when he did it, he just stretched it open. I'm looking to give him a sub because he looks tired out there, and (assistant coach) Ty (Beard)'s like, 'No, he's got enough adrenaline going at the moment, keep him out there.'"
Ricky Roberts added 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds for JBU, while Brandon Joseph had 10 points off the bench. JBU's bench outscored Philander Smith 61-10.
"I thought we did a great job of finding each other," Beschta said. "That's the important thing that led to those kinds of shots. We had 20 assists on 31 buckets, and that's us at our best. Ricky tonight, I thought overall was really good offensively. He had seven assists and one turnover, and he had some big drives for us during a stretch where they spaced out on us to try and take away the 3, and he took advantage of it and really did a good job of being patient tonight."
Christopher Ward led Philander Smith with 17 points, while Braylon Spicer had 14, Kee 11 and Daidric Sergent 10.
With the win, JBU evened the season series with Philander Smith, which defeated JBU 84-80 in Little Rock on Nov. 19.
The Golden Eagles will return to the court on Thursday to open Sooner Athletic Conference play against No. 18 Oklahoma City. The women's game is at 6 p.m., followed by the men's game at 8 p.m.
"To head into Oklahoma City where you're going to be hosting a team that's extremely athletic, extremely talented -- they're going to be better than this," Beschta said. "They've got two huge, 6-9 guys inside that can shoot it from 15 (feet) and can even knock the 3 a little bit. They've got an All-American guard back. They've got another guard who's a shooter that's a stud.
"They're the real deal. They've got a pretty complete team and they've got some depth. We're going to have to be on our game. They're really tough. I'm excited for that one. You love getting these challenges."
John Brown 93, Philander Smith 67
Philander Smith^31^36^--^67
John Brown^41^52^--^93
Philander Smith (5-3): Ward 17, Spicer 14, Kee 11, Sergent 10, Brandon 9, Jackson 5, Turner 1.
John Brown (7-3): Smith 23, Bowling 17, Roberts 11, Joseph 10, Caudle 9, Waller 8, Martinez 6, English 6, Hart 2, Egedi 1.
Sports on 11/30/2016