The John Brown men's basketball team returned to practice last week after the Christmas break and head coach Jason Beschta was pleased with how the Golden Eagles returned.
"This is my third year here, and I thought this was the best year they've come back looking as close to game shape as possible," Beschta said. "That can be hard not practicing. It's hard to simulate basketball shape."
Sooner Athletic Conference Basketball Standings
MEN^CONFERENCE^OVERALL
^W-L^W-L
Oklahoma City^2-0^11-1
Mid-America Christian^2-0^10-2
Texas Wesleyan^1-1^11-2
John Brown^1-1^9-4
Wayland Baptist^1-1^9-5
Southwestern Christian^1-1^8-5
Bacone^1-1^3-6
SW Assemblies of God^0-1^10-3
Science and Arts^0-1^5-7
St. Gregory’s^0-2^4-5
This week
Thursday’s games
Southwestern Christian at John Brown
Mid-America Christian at Oklahoma City
Bacone at Wayland Baptist
Texas Wesleyan at Science and Arts
SW Assemblies of God at St. Gregory’s
Saturday’s games
John Brown at Wayland Baptist
Oklahoma City at SW Assemblies of God
Science and Arts at Bacone
St. Gregory’s at Mid-America Christian
Southwestern Christian at Texas Wesleyan
JBU jumps back into its season at 8 p.m. Thursday when it hosts Southwestern Christian (Okla.) at Bill George Arena for a Sooner Athletic Conference game.
JBU (9-4, 1-1) has not played a regular season game since defeating Ecclesia 79-76 on Dec. 8 at Bill George Arena. JBU's last conference game was an 89-83 win at St. Gregory's (Okla.) on Dec. 3.
But JBU hasn't been totally idle since then.
The Golden Eagles did play a pair of exhibition games on the road against NCAA Division I teams Oral Roberts and Baylor on Dec. 10 and Dec. 18, respectively, which allowed for a little extra practice time before the break.
"We've been working them hard," Beschta said. "We're getting up and down the floor a lot more and a lot harder this year. I think we're getting some good things out of it."
The Golden Eagles will face a tough Southwestern Christian squad that has already played a game in the new year.
Southwestern Christian (9-5, 1-1) defeated Bethel (Kan.) in a nonconference game on Monday in Bethany, Okla.
Senior guard Marvin White, an NAIA All-American a year ago, pumped in 35 points, including five 3-pointers. Junior college transfer Joshua Simmons had 23 points and 19 rebounds in the win for SCU in only his third game since gaining eligibility at the semester.
Simmons is averaging 23 points and 13.7 rebounds per game, while White is at 18.3 points per game and guard Shawn Scott is at 16.6 points per game.
Jamal Ray chips in 13.8 points per game, while Casey Cole is at 9.9 points per game.
"I think they'll be really good with at least five guys," Beschta said. "One through five, they're as talented as anybody in the league."
John Brown may have a depth advantage and Beschta hopes to use that to the Golden Eagles' advantage.
Guard Ricky Roberts leads the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game, while Jake Caudle averages 11.2 points, Zach English 10.1 points and forward Benjamin Smith 9.7 points.
Southwestern Christian is coached by former Baylor coach Dave Bliss, the former NCAA Division I coach at several schools including Oklahoma, Southern Methodist, New Mexico and Baylor, where he resigned in Aug. 2003 under the cloud of an NCAA investigation, which later resulted in severe punishments for Bliss professionally.
Beschta was in graduate school and had a volunteer position on Baylor's basketball team in Bliss's final season.
Bliss is in his second year at Southwestern Christian.
"They're going to be talented," Beschta said. "They've played a lot of teams close that are good teams. I think they're going to be really tough."
Following the game against Southwestern Christian, JBU will head to Plainview, Texas, to take on No. 21-ranked Wayland Baptist (9-5, 1-1).
"Wayland has been really good," Beschta said. "They just lost their starting center (Louis Timms) to a knee injury, out for the year. He was the guy leading the country in blocks, putting up a double-double every night. They've got some talented guards and they can shoot the snot out of the ball. That's just how it is in this league."
Sports on 01/04/2017