OKLAHOMA CITY -- In a matchup that saw five ties in the second half, three major runs decided the contest as the John Brown University men's basketball team fell by a 60-57 final on Wednesday night inside Abe Lemons Arena.
Holding a narrow one-point lead with just 1 minute, 43 seconds left in the contest, the Golden Eagles (7-5, 2-3 Sooner Athletic Conference) finished 1-of-6 from the floor, while the Stars (5-6, 4-1) knocked down 4-of-6 from the free-throw line to end the contest on a 6-2 run, holding off the JBU comeback bid late.
The second-half see-saw battle began midway through the second half with both teams having scored 14 points in the latter frame already. Down two, 43-41, City rattled off an 11-0 run over a 2:31 span to take a nine-point lead, 52-43, with just under six minutes left to play.
Showing fight, John Brown retaliated with a 12-2 run of its own, powered by back-to-back triples from junior Payton Guiot and senior Luke Harper, reversing the lead back to the visitors, 55-54, with just 2:12 remaining in regulation.
That's when the run ended and the offense fell into a drought as the Golden Eagles suffered its third-consecutive defeat.
"This has been a tough stretch losing these last three games that have all been close at the end," head coach Jason Beschta said. "There have been a lot of good things we have been doing. We just need a few more each game. That's often what the game comes down to -- which team will make a couple more plays or a couple more errors. It can be such a fine line to navigate.
"I love our guys, and I believe in our guys. I have to continue to look for ways I can make better decisions to put us in a position to find a little more success. I know we will get there; we have a special team that is only growing stronger and getting better."
Graduate student Densier Carnes had a career performance in the loss, posting 16 points and a career-best 20 rebounds. The rebounding effort is second-most in a single game in program history, trailing only Jahir Meija's 24-rebound performance at Park (Mo.) back on Nov. 25, 2000. Carnes also added two blocks.
Harper led all scorers with 21 points, eclipsing the 20-point mark for the third time this season, on 7-of-16 shooting from the field.
The Golden Eagles shot an abysmal 18 percent from behind the arc (7-of-38) against City's three-point defense, ranked in the top five nationwide. Inside the arc, the Golden Eagles shot 43 percent.
Oklahoma City fared much better from the floor overall (37 percent) but won the contest at the line, converting 13-of-21 chances, while JBU was limited to just nine attempts, hitting six.
Rashaun Coleman and Romario Spence each scored 19 for the Stars, with Coleman completing the double-double with 11 rebounds. Ryan Birt added 10 points as Oklahoma City rode all five starters to at least 32 minutes each tonight.
Twenty-one offensive rebounds for the visitors couldn't produce more than 14 points, as JBU out-rebounded City by a 50-43 margin overall.
JBU was scheduled to return to action Saturday afternoon against Central Baptist in the last game of the 2021 year. Results were not available at presstime.
JBU is back in action Jan. 1 against Panhandle State in Sooner Athletic Conference action.