PLAINVIEW, Texas -- Down one late in the contest, senior Josh Bowling took over on offense and the John Brown defense clamped down as the No. 24 John Brown University men's basketball team handed a 73-72 upset to league-leading No. 14 Wayland Baptist on Saturday afternoon inside the Hutcherson Center.
Bowling scored 17 of his team-leading 23 points in the second half and put up all eight of JBU's points after the Golden Eagles faced a late 68-67 deficit.
Sooner Athletic Conference Basketball Standings
MEN^CONFERENCE^OVERALL
^W-L^W-L
Wayland Baptist^9-2^14-5
Science and Arts^7-3^14-4
Langston^7-4^15-4
John Brown^7-4^13-6
Southwestern Christian^6-4^11-7
SW Assemblies of God^6-5^13-6
Mid-America Christian^5-5^12-6
Oklahoma City^5-5^10-6
Panhandle State^5-6^10-7
Texas Wesleyan^4-7^9-10
Central Christian^3-8^9-9
Bacone^0-11^2-14
Last week
January 17
Panhandle State 71, John Brown 69
Southwestern Christian 81, Southwestern Assemblies of God 78
Oklahoma City 72, Texas Wesleyan 70
Mid-America Christian 88, Langston 79
Central Christian 69, Science and Arts 63
January 19
John Brown 73, Wayland Baptist 72
Oklahoma City 106, Southwestern Assemblies of God 80
Panhandle State 87, Bacone 79
Mid-America Christian 73, Central Christian 62
Science and Arts 89, Langston 86
Texas Wesleyan 66, Southwestern Christian 59
This week
Tuesday’s game
Science and Arts at Southwestern Christian (n)
Thursday’s games
Texas Wesleyan at John Brown
Southwestern Assemblies of God at Bacone
Panhandle State at Science and Arts
Central Christian at Oklahoma City
Wayland Baptist at Mid-America Christian
Langston at Southwestern Christian
Saturday’s games
Southwestern Assemblies of God at John Brown
Wayland Baptist at Science and Arts
Panhandle State at Mid-America Christian
Oklahoma City at Langston
Southwestern Christian at Central Christian
Texas Wesleyan at Bacone
J.J. Culver's running layup put the Pioneers (14-5, 9-2 Sooner Athletic Conference) up one again on the next possession, but just under a minute later, Bowling's triple from the right arc in transition gave the Golden Eagles a 71-69 advantage, the 15th lead change of the game. John Brown turned in a strong defensive stand as sophomore Rokas Grabliauskas forced a turnover and a steal and Bowling capped off the possession at the other end with a floating mid-range jumper to essentially ice the contest.
One more full shot clock defensive stand kept Wayland Baptist from completing a comeback. After missing a shot and getting the offensive rebound, Culver's uncontested triple as time expired still left the hosts one point short -- propelling the Golden Eagles to their first win since 2014 in Plainview, breaking a four-year losing skid in West Texas. The loss was also Wayland Baptist's first SAC loss this season.
"This was a really big win for us tonight after losing three straight close games," head coach Jason Beschta said after his first-career win inside the Hutcherson Center. "Wayland has been playing so well lately, and without a couple of players, so coming into today as the league's hottest team was really impressive.
"Guys like Luke (Harper) and Desmond (Kennedy) really gave us valuable minutes. Josh (Bowling) was very aggressive and was fun to watch catch fire in the second half. I thought we were at our best defensively in the halfcourt -- we guarded very well -- when they didn't get out on us in transition."
The bench really did come in clutch Saturday afternoon as the John Brown (13-6, 7-4) reserves outscored the Pioneers' bench by a 30-19 margin, led by junior Desmond Kennedy's 14-point effort. Freshman Luke Harper also added eight points.
Winners of their last six, the Pioneers tried to ride Culver's game-high 32 points, but he missed as many as he made, finishing the contest 14 of 28 from the floor. C.J. Obinwa contributed 12 points while Spencer Lindsey posted nine points and 11 boards.
Bowling finished an astounding 8 of 9 from the field, grabbing four caroms, including a 4-of-5 mark from behind the arc. Senior Jake Caudle hit two first-half triples to keep John Brown within striking distance and finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Breaking its own three-game losing skid, the Golden Eagles manage a split on a weekend that featured a pair of one-possession contests. JBU now sits tied for third in the middle of a jumble that sees all eight of the SAC's top teams separated by just 3.5 games.
JBU returns to Bill George Arena this week to welcome a pair of Texas teams in Texas Wesleyan and Southwestern Assemblies of God. The Golden Eagles host Texas Wesleyan on Thursday at 8 p.m. where John Brown hopes to sweep the season series with last year's SAC regular season champion. Southwestern Assemblies of God, which won the SAC Tournament at Bill George Arena last season, visits Saturday at 3 p.m.
Sports on 01/23/2019