John Brown's men took the defending national champions down to the wire Saturday afternoon, but in the end the Golden Eagles were not able to finish off Texas Wesleyan.
Josh Bowling's 3-point attempt to tie in the final seconds was off target and the Rams held on for a 79-76 victory inside Bill George Arena.
Sooner Athletic Conference Basketball Standings
MEN^CONFERENCE^OVERALL
^W-L^W-L
Oklahoma City^13-5^21-6
Texas Wesleyan^13-5^20-8
SW Assemblies of God^12-6^20-8
Wayland Baptist^11-7^19-8
Science and Arts^11-8^20-8
Mid-America Christian^11-8^17-10
John Brown^9-9^15-12
Southwestern Christian^9-9^16-12
Central Christian^6-12^13-13
Panhandle State^4-14^11-15
Bacone^1-17^5-23
Last week
February 13
John Brown 78, Bacone 55
Oklahoma City 75, Central Christian 73
February 15
SW Assemblies of God 77, John Brown 71
Texas Wesleyan 72, Bacone 59
Science and Arts 86, Panhandle State 58
Mid-America Christian 81, Wayland Baptist 80 (OT)
Oklahoma City 112, Southwestern Christian 92
February 17
Texas Wesleyan 79, John Brown 76
Wayland Baptist 92, Science and Arts 81
SW Assemblies of God 93, Bacone 90
Southwestern Christian 78, Central Christian 68
Mid-America Christian 104, Panhandle State 85
This week’s games
Thursday’s games
John Brown at Panhandle State
Oklahoma City at SW Assemblies of God
Central Christian at Texas Wesleyan
Bacone at Wayland Baptist
Science and Arts at Southwestern Christian
Saturday’s games
John Brown at Wayland Baptist
Central Christian at SW Assemblies of God
Texas Wesleyan at Oklahoma City
Southwestern Christian at Mid-America Christian
Bacone at Panhandle State
With the victory, No. 20 Texas Wesleyan (20-8, 13-5) moved back into a tie with idle Oklahoma City for first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference, while JBU (15-12, 9-9) fell into a tie for seventh place with Southwestern Christian, who JBU holds the tiebreaker with on a season sweep.
"We've been fighting our own demons for the last couple of weeks," said Texas Wesleyan coach Brennen Shingleton. "We hadn't shot the ball as well as we'd like, and we're trying to find an identity defensively and trying to get healthy and a bunch of stuff. John Brown played its tail off. We knew it was going to be hard to guard.
"We knew it was going to be emotional for them with the last home game of the year. Every time you come here you've got to be ready to play, and with a bunch of new guys you've got to convince them of that every time."
LSU transfer Branden Jenkins led the Rams with 22 points, including two free throws with 21.6 seconds left to give the Rams a 77-76 lead after Bowling had given the Golden Eagles the lead with a 3-pointer.
The Rams forced a turnover of Darrell Jones on JBU's next offensive possession, and Ryan Harris was fouled. Harris hit two free throws with 8.6 seconds left for a 79-76 lead.
Bowling got a good look at a game-tying shot, but it just didn't fall.
Juwan Jones scored 21 points off the bench for the Rams, while Harris had 19. The Rams shot 17 of 27 (63 percent) from the field in the second half.
Bowling had a career-high 35 points for JBU (15-12, 9-9), which answered Wesleyan point for point in the second half. Jake Caudle added 18.
"We did a great job fighting to get back," said JBU head coach Jason Beschta. "Gosh, we executed our stuff down the stretch. We got some really good looks on things. We even got a good look there at the end. I'm proud of the way we did that."
Texas Wesleyan led by as many as eight points in the first half and carried a 33-26 lead into halftime.
The Golden Eagles stayed close though and with more than 12 minutes remaining in the second half a steal and score by Darrell Jones put JBU ahead 50-49.
JBU led by as many as three points on two occasions, after a Marquis Waller putback and a 3-pointer by Benjamin Smith.
Texas Wesleyan responded in kind and took a five-point lead, but JBU answered as well.
Bowling knocked down a 3-pointer to pull within 66-64 and the Golden Eagles tied it on Bowling's two free throws.
From that point, every lead that Texas Wesleyan got was answered by JBU until the 3-pointer from Bowling gave them a 76-75 lead.
Beschta admitted that the near miss against the Rams stung a little bit.
"I don't think we're a team that should go into the locker room after a game like this and be like this is some kind of moral victory because we played with a really good team," Beschta said. "They may be the best team in our league. I think it's them and City are the best two. ... We were right there. It is encouraging to see us play at a level that puts us right there, where we didn't have to be extra special and hitting crazy shots to even be able to be in a game."
JBU now hits the road on Thursday to Oklahoma Panhandle State and on to Wayland Baptist on Saturday -- two teams that it beat at Bill George Arena earlier in the year.
The Golden Eagles edged out Panhandle State 106-103 on Jan. 6 and beat Texas Wesleyan 86-64 on Jan. 4. The Golden Eagles are looking to improve their seeding for the upcoming Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. JBU will play on the road in the opening round on Feb. 27 against an opponent to be determined, and the Golden Eagles hope to get back for at least one more game in Bill George Arena on March 2-3.
"Where we go is up for grabs," Beschta said. "I think we're going to be on the road, it's just a matter of where. And all that's still up in the air when you've got City and Texas Wesleyan still fighting for things and SAGU still up there fighting for things in the top 3. We could end up anywhere."
Texas Wesleyan 79, John Brown 76
Texas Wesleyan^33^46^--^79
John Brown^26^50^--^76
Texas Wesleyan (20-8, 13-5): Jenkins 22, Jones 21, Harris 19, Anderson 9, Thomas 5, Brazeal 3.
John Brown (15-12, 9-9): Bowling 35, Caudle 18, Carnes 7, Waller 4, Corder 3, Smith 3, Grabliauskas 2, Jones 2, Joksimovic 2.
Sports on 02/21/2018