JBU men pick up big win at Wayland Baptist

Texas-sized victory

Photo courtesy of Wayland Baptist John Brown freshman Desmond Kennedy takes a shot during the second half of Saturday's game at Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas. JBU defeated the Pioneers 73-72.
Photo courtesy of Wayland Baptist John Brown freshman Desmond Kennedy takes a shot during the second half of Saturday's game at Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas. JBU defeated the Pioneers 73-72.

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