Carnes comes through again

Densier Carnes followed up one great performance with another on Saturday night for John Brown University, and the Golden Eagles needed every bit of it.

Carnes -- a 6-foot-6 junior -- scored a career-high 32 points and 10 rebounds as the No. 10 Golden Eagles defeated Oklahoma City 92-86 in overtime in a Sooner Athletic Conference game inside Bill George Arena.

Carnes' big night comes on the heels of his 23-point 18-rebound performance in JBU's 98-91 double overtime win at Southwestern Christian (Okla.) on Thursday.

"I think you know from all the times we've talked how much we believe Densier's capable," said JBU head coach Jason Beschta. "And sometimes it's just about getting a guy to embrace that. You're not a role player. You're a really good player, and tonight we needed that. He was getting really good looks. I had to tell him a couple of times early on, 'Keep shooting the basketball.' I don't care if you shoot it every time if you're open or you're getting a good shot. And he certainly did a good job of carrying us through a lot of times."

Carnes, who came into the game averaging 12.2 points per game, hit 11 of 18 shots from the field, including 5 of 10 from behind the 3-point line. Carnes also went 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.

Carnes scored 20 of his points in the first half, and he got a big boost from sophomore teammate Luke Harper in the second half.

Harper, JBU's leading scorer at 18.1 points per game, didn't score in the first half. Harper scored all 15 of his points in the second half and overtime and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Beschta said he was proud of Harper for finding a way on a night when his shot wasn't falling.

"Luke on a night where he's not hitting shots and what we needed out of him, he got 10 defensive rebounds and came up with some big ones for us," Beschta said. "I mean that's huge."

Three other Golden Eagles finished with double-digit scoring.

Senior post Quintin Bailey scored 12 points, while junior Rokas Grabliauskas and freshman Nemanja Obradovic each had 10.

The game was close the entire way, tied at 42 at halftime and 79 at the end of regulation.

JBU led 79-77 after two Harper free throws with 54.4 seconds left.

Oklahoma City tied with a pair of foul shots from Rashaun Coleman with 43.7 left.

Neither team was able to score the remainder of regulation.

Carnes helped JBU go on a 7-0 run to open the overtime period and take control of the game.

He hit a free-throw to open the extra time period for an 80-79 lead and Luke Harper followed with a driving layup for an 82-79 lead.

Carnes stepped inside the 3-point line for a long jump shot to take a 84-79 lead, and he turned and scored on the next possession to make it 86-79.

JBU closed out the game going 6 of 8 at the free-throw line. Harper made 4 of 6 and Ira Perrier hit both of his shots.

Oklahoma City (10-7, 3-5), meanwhile, went 0 for 5 from the field in the overtime period, scoring all 7 of its points at the free-throw line.

Coleman finished with 23 points to lead Oklahoma City, while Anthony Davis had 17, Darrion Willies 11 and A.J. Cockrell 10.

"We had some bad shots early on," said OCU interim head coach Hank Aldous. "We let them get to their spots late in the clock and they were able to basically bring it home in overtime. We let some easy ones slip away. It's a tough one to lose. Both teams fought really hard. They have a really good team and I'm glad the way our guys battled. It's tough to come out on this end, but we'll get better from it."

It was a big win for JBU, which lost all three games to Oklahoma City last season, including a 74-73 heartbreaker in the Sooner Athletic Conference championship on the Stars' home court.

"We remember last year," Beschta said. "It's not the same coaches -- they're two coaches removed from that. It still matters. They're still City, which is always a big game. It's still conference and we're in the hunt. We're going to enjoy that and we're going to keep pushing through on this."

JBU now hits the road, first to Wayland Baptist on Thursday before heading to Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday.

Wayland Baptist, which is receiving votes in the Top 25 Coaches Poll, was the No. 3-ranked team in the preseason. The Pioneers (11-5, 5-3) lost four in a row earlier in the season, but seem to have recovered.

"They're still really talented," Beschta said. "You know they're looking for a marquee win to get them going. I keep telling the guys, after our Crowley's Ridge loss, that I failed to make sure our guys always know we've got a target on our back. That's a new thing for us. Just about every game we're going into right now, we're the higher ranked team. We're a top 10 team. That's a big game for everybody we play. We've earned that, but now we've got to answer that. We cannot let that slide."

John Brown 92, Oklahoma City 86 (OT)

Oklahoma City^42^37^7^--^86

John Brown^42^37^13^--^92

Oklahoma City (10-7, 3-5): Coleman 23, Davis 17, Willies 11, Cockrell 10, Clayborne 9, Bryant 8, Ghomsi 5, Wattree 2, Cagle 1.

John Brown (16-2, 7-1): Carnes 32, Harper 15, Bailey 12, Grabliauskas 10, Obradovic 10, Beckom 6, Hutchings 5, Perrier 2.

Sports on 01/22/2020