Luke Harper's return to the lineup gave the John Brown men's basketball team a much-needed shot in the arm.
Harper, a 6-foot-3 junior guard from Plano, Texas, scored 27 points in his season debut to lift the Golden Eagles to their first win of the season 91-63 against Langston (Okla.) on Monday inside Bill George Arena.
Harper -- an All-Sooner Athletic Conference First Team selection and NAIA Third-Team All-American last year -- missed JBU's first three games of the season -- all losses -- because of covid-19 protocols. He said he was diagnosed with the virus on New Year's Day.
Harper said he was glad to be back on the court with his teammates.
"It was nice," he said. "It took a while. It's been so long. It's been like 320 days since we played. It was great to get back. ... There's nothing worse than watching your team play and not being able to really do anything besides cheer. The virus, it definitely takes a while to get back to normal. I still don't feel like my normal self as far as lung capacity and all that."
Harper missed his first two shots from the field but quickly hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give JBU a 13-12 lead. He went on to score a basket-and-one and a long jumper before nailing a deep 3-pointer right before the half to give JBU a 45-28 lead at halftime. Harper had 18 points in the first half.
"None of us knew what he'd look like," said JBU head coach Jason Beschta. "He didn't know what he'd look like necessarily. But we knew it would at least give us another threat out there, especially offensively. What was neat was as he scored, I thought it felt like everybody all of the sudden is a threat. I think some of these other games we felt like we had two threats out there. And all of a sudden with Luke it's like a load off."
Harper's teammates joined in the cause as five Golden Eagles (1-3, 1-3 SAC) finished with double digit points.
Densier Carnes hit three 3-pointers and had 15 points. Noah Taylor scored 12 points, while James Beckom had 11 and Brenton Toussaint added 10.
Ira Perrier added seven assists, seven rebounds and three steals.
"(Having Harper back) lets Ira just keep being Ira, finding ways," Beschta said. "Seven assists tonight, so good on the boards. He can impact a game more than probably anybody in our league without scoring."
JBU hit 36 of 74 shots from the field, including 11 of 34 from behind the 3-point line. The Golden Eagles turned it over only five times.
Langston cut JBU's lead to 16 early in the second half, but the Golden Eagles answered with a 17-4 run to take a 28-point lead. The Golden Eagles would lead by as many as 34 points in the second half.
The Golden Eagles are hopeful to get senior point guard Rokas Grabliauskas back for Thursday's game at Oklahoma Panhandle State, Beschta said. Sophomore post Nemanja Obradovic should be back next week, Beschta said.
"Everybody you add just kind of gives you a little more life," he said.
TaMarcus Butler led Langston (0-2, 0-2) with 21 points, while Jamaal Clifton scored 20 and David Hunt II added 10.
JBU 91, Langston 63
Langston^28^35^--^63
John Brown^45^46^--^91
Langston (0-2, 0-2): Butler 21, Clifton 20, Hunt II 10, Daughty III 4, Calhoun-Turner 4, Clark 2, Easter 2.
John Brown (1-3, 1-3): Harper 27, Carnes 15, Taylor 12, Beckom 11, Toussaint 10, Ceasar 4, Stolz 4, Ellis 3, Morphis 3, Perrier 2.
SAGU 75, JBU 72
A short-handed John Brown team ran out of gas and out of weapons down the stretch Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles went scoreless for most of the final 3 1/2 minutes and watched Southwestern Assemblies of God rally for a 75-72 victory inside Bill George Arena.
JBU led 69-62 with 3 minutes, 35 seconds remaining, but starting big men Brenton Toussaint and Densier Carnes each fouled out and the Lions smelled blood in the water.
"As soon as Densier fouled out it was really where it got going, but it started a couple of minutes before that," said JBU head coach Jason Beschta. "We played tired at that point. You could tell. Some of it is new guys. Some of it is guys aren't used to playing the minutes or we wouldn't normally have out there."
SAGU head coach Delton Deal said his team definitely found some late energy once JBU's players left the game.
"We're all finding ways to piece together stuff," Deal said. "I know they're missing guys. We're missing guys. We're all trying to just play. So when you have a couple of your older leaders go out and then you get young, it happened to us in the last game against Wayland. Yeah I think it helped us a little bit and we definitely played harder toward the end."
SAGU attacked the basket to pull within 69-68 after a pair of inside buckets by Howard Turner and Joel Polius.
With 1:10 remaining, SAGU's Cody Farmer drained a 3-pointer to give the Lions the lead for good, 71-68.
Polius would hit two free throws for a 73-69 lead. JBU cut it to 73-72 when Noah Taylor was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit three free throws with 9.7 seconds left, which were JBU's first points since the 3:35 mark.
The Golden Eagles fouled Alerick Hall and he hit a pair of free throws for a 75-72 lead. JBU's D.J. Ellis missed a long trey from the top of the key as time expired.
Polius finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead SAGU (3-1, 2-1 Sooner Athletic Confernece), while Farmer had 11, including three 3-pointers.
Carnes and Taylor each finished with 21 points to lead JBU (0-3, 0-3). Taylor hit six 3-pointers. Ellis added 11 points, while Ira Perrier had 14 rebounds.
JBU was missing three starters in Luke Harper, Rokas Grabliauskas and Nemanja Obradovic due to covid-19 issues.
SAGU 75, JBU 72
SAGU^30^45^--^75
JBU^33^39^--^72
SAGU: Polius 23, Farmer 11, Turner 9, Hughley 8, I. Boling 7, Hall 6, N. Boling 5, Bailey 3, Rainey 3.
JBU: Carnes 21, Taylor 21, Ellis 11, Beckom 8, Toussaint 4, Stolz 4, Perrier 3.
Up next
The Golden Eagles are scheduled to travel to Oklahoma Panhandle State on Thursday before going to Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Saturday.
