PLAINVIEW, Texas -- In a contest not short on lead changes, the Golden Eagle defense buckled down late in the second half and frustrated Wayland Baptist (Texas) as the No. 10 John Brown University men's basketball team held on for a 64-56 victory on Thursday night inside the Hutcherson Center.
Junior Densier Carnes scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half as he grabbed his third-consecutive double-double (10 rebounds) and the Golden Eagles (17-2, 8-1 Sooner Athletic) frustrated the Sooner Athletic Conference's reigning Player of the Year by limiting J.J. Culver to a pair of turnovers during the pivotal waning minutes of the game and a 5 of 15 shooting night overall.
Facing a 50-45 deficit with just 5 minutes, 42 seconds left in the contest, sophomore Luke Harper's triple jump-started a 19-6 run that clinched the contest. The Golden Eagles limited Wayland Baptist to just two layups in the final 30 seconds after holding the Pioneers (12-6, 6-4) without a field goal for a 4:34 span while JBU used the game's 12th lead change and held on for its fifth-straight in the win column.
The Pioneers committed six turnovers battling through the tough JBU defense over the final 5:42 of the game, committing 21 overall -- the most Wayland has made in a single game this season.
"Wayland was able to build a little lead late in the second half, but our guys did a tremendous job of not getting rattled," said head coach Jason Beschta, who won his 100th career victory at JBU. "Instead, we just chipped away, making play after play. Defensively, we did a great job holding them scoreless for long stretches which made the difference."
Instead of folding, John Brown used layups from Harper and Carnes before another big-time Carnes trey. With just more than 90 seconds remaining, junior Rokas Grabliauskas took the ball to the hoop, drew the foul and stuck the layup to continue the John Brown run to 15-2.
"We knew tonight was going to be a battle of toughness and wills," Beschta said. "Both teams made things difficult on offense and forced adjustments. Baskets were just hard to come by. I was really proud because it was another game that we had to find a way to win, and we did."
Carnes hit 8 of 14 from the floor, including four triples. While he was the lone Golden Eagle to finish in double-figure scoring, Harper battled to a nine-point performance, and John Brown also received seven timely points from freshman Nemanja Obradovic -- all in the first half -- hitting 3 of 6 from the field.
While JBU shot under 40 percent for just the fourth time this season, converting 20 of 52 from the field (39 percent), the visitors picked up 17 points at the charity stripe by attacking the bucket and forcing a pair of Pioneers to foul out -- including Culver.
Culver -- who achieved national notoriety lately after a 100-point performance in a 124-60 win against Southwestern Adventist University on Dec. 10 -- hit just 5 of 15 from the field and finished with 20 points, earning seven at the line. He also grabbed six rebounds. Jack Nobles scored nine, but both WBU leading scorers committed five turnovers a piece in the loss.
John Brown was scheduled to play at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday. Results were not available at presstime. JBU is back in action at home Thursday against Mid-America Christian.
Sports on 01/26/2020