John Brown's men took the Sooner Athletic Conference's first place team to the limit on Thursday, but in the end No. 11-ranked Texas Wesleyan emerged out of Bill George Arena with a reason to celebrate.
The Rams clinched at least a share of the SAC regular season league title with a 78-76 victory over the Golden Eagles in their final regular season home game.
Sooner Athletic Conference Basketball Standings
Updated through Feb. 23
MEN^CONFERENCE^OVERALL
^W-L^W-L
Texas Wesleyan^12-5^22-6
SW Assemblies of God^11-6^21-8
Science and Arts^11-6^16-12
Oklahoma City^10-7^19-8
Southwestern Christian^10-7^18-11
Wayland Baptist^9-8^17-12
John Brown^7-10^15-13
Mid-America Christian^6-11^15-14
St. Gregory’s^6-11^10-14
Bacone^3-14^7-20
January 5
Southwestern Christian 77, John Brown 65
Oklahoma City 100, Mid-America Christian 90
Wayland Baptist 101, Bacone 82
Texas Wesleyan 102, Science and Arts 77
SW Assemblies of God 85, St. Gregory’s 77
Last week’s scores
February 23
Texas Wesleyan 78, John Brown 76
SW Assemblies of God 75, Oklahoma City 58
Wayland Baptist 93, Southwestern Christian 85
Science and Arts 100, Bacone 75
St. Gregory’s 50, Mid-America Christian 49
February 25
John Brown at Southwestern Christian (n)
Science and Arts at Wayland Baptist (n)
Oklahoma City at Mid-America Christian (n)
St. Gregory’s at SW Assemblies of God (n)
Texas Wesleyan at Bacone (n)
A 3-pointer from the top of the key by Zach English with a little more than 2 minutes remaining tied the game 71-71 after Texas Wesleyan had led for the majority of the second half.
After English's trey to tie, the Golden Eagles then forced a turnover on the Rams' next possession, but JBU was unable to convert on offense to take a lead.
The Rams then scored on their next five possessions to take a lead and a final shot attempt from JBU was off the mark as Texas Wesleyan held on for the victory.
"You know you hate to lose, but this is the most proud I've been of the effort we've put forth for a whole game all year, and especially against this level of competition," said John Brown men's coach Jason Beschta. "I mean it takes playing special against a team like them."
Wesleyan's Najeal Jeffery hit a free throw with 1:27 left in the game to give the Rams a 72-71 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
Following a JBU turnover, Dion Rogers scored off the glass to give the Rams a 74-71 lead, and two free throws from Naiel Smith made it 76-71.
Sam Egedi scored inside for JBU to cut it to 76-73 with 33.1 seconds left. Rogers split a pair at the line to put Wesleyan ahead 77-73, and Brandon Joseph knocked down a 3-pointer on the other end with 21.7 seconds left to pull JBU within 77-76.
JBU fouled Ryan Harris with 16 seconds left, and he split a pair of shots to put Texas Wesleyan up 78-76.
The Golden Eagles came back down the floor and looked to find Matt Ledford for a 3-pointer, but the shot wasn't there and Ledford tried to slip a pass inside that went out of bounds as JBU kept possession with 4.5 seconds left.
English caught the inbound pass in the corner but was surrounded by Texas Wesleyan defenders and had to launch a desperation 3-pointer that was off target.
JBU fought for the offensive rebound but couldn't corrale it in time as the clock expired and the Rams held on for the win and celebrated their milestone victory while leaving the court.
"We haven't really been in a lot of tight games down to the last minute this year," Beschta said. "We've been on either side of it, but it hasn't come down to the last possession or two. It takes some experience and we were playing an awful lot of young guys at the time. I don't know that we made the best decisions. You get a little tight and you stop thinking and stop doing the things that you would normally do."
Heading into Saturday's regular season finale at Bacone, the Rams (22-6, 12-5) were one game ahead of Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) and Science and Arts (Okla.). A Texas Wesleyan victory Saturday would clinch the league title outright. Results of Saturday's games were not available at presstime.
"Yeah we're excited," Texas Wesleyan coach Brennen Shingleton said. "My guys work hard. ... It's tough to win on the road in college basketball."
The Rams took control of Thursday's game against JBU midway through the first half. Trailing 23-18 after a Joseph 3-pointer, Texas Wesleyan went on a 18-2 run to take a 36-25 lead with 4:29 left in the first half.
Beschta was also hit with a technical foul in that span, but the Golden Eagles responded, closing the half on a 11-4 run to pull within 40-36 at halftime.
JBU tied the game at 40 early in first half on a 3-pointer by Jake Caudle, who would leave the game later in the half after an injury and not return.
Wesleyan scored the next seven points to go up 47-40 and they remained ahead until English tied the game at 71.
JBU outrebounded the Rams 38-33, but Texas Wesleyan hit 30 of 58 shots (51.7 percent) from the field, while JBU hit 25 of 60 (41.7 percent).
Harris led the Rams with 23 points off the bench, while Jeffery had 18 and Rogers also came off the bench and scored 17 points. Smith and Najeal Young each added 10.
Joseph led JBU with 21 points, while Caudle had 15 and English and Marquis Waller each with 12.
JBU returned to action on Saturday in its regular season finale at Southwestern Christian (Okla.). Results were not available at presstime.
The Golden Eagles will play on the road Tuesday for the opening round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. Opponent and location were not available at presstime.
"We don't know who it's going to be for that first round game," Beschta said after Thursday's loss. "But if tonight's any indication of the direction we're going -- I know we've lost three straight here -- we've showed we're back up to the level where we can compete with everybody. If we can continue to do that we can have a chance against anybody."
Texas Wesleyan 78, John Brown 76
Texas Wesleyan^40^38^--^78
John Brown^36^40^--^76
Texas Wesleyan: Harris 23, Jeffery 18, Rogers 17, Smith 10, Young 10.
John Brown: Joseph 21, Caudle 15, English 12, Waller 12, Egedi 6, Toussaint 6, Martinez 2, Ledford 2.
Sports on 02/26/2017