Oral Roberts defeats JBU men in exhibition
Three players scored in double figures for John Brown.
TULSA, Okla. — Three player scored in double figures, led by senior Ricky Roberts’ 13 points, but the John Brown University men’s basketball team couldn’t contain a 63.6 percent shooting effort from NCAA Division I Oral Roberts (Okla.) as ORU posted a 95-63 win in an exhibition battle of Golden Eagles on Saturday afternoon inside the Mabee Center.
Roberts led JBU with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and also grabbed a team-best four rebounds and dished out a teambest three-assists for the visiting JBU Golden Eagles. Senior Zach English hit three triples in the second half to finish with 12 points and three assists while sophomore Josh Bowling shot 4-of-7 behind the arc and added an impressive block and a trey on the same possession for JBU. The visitors finished the contest 23-of-59 from the floor (39.0 percent) and knocked down 12-of-31 triples attempted.
Sophomore Brandon Joseph came off the bench for JBU to contribute seven points and three boards and junior Samuel Egedi added six points including a steal and thunderous flush late in the contest.
The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles picked up their second win of the season behind five players scoring in double figures and each of its 11 players contributing points.
Kris Martin and Jalen Bradley scored 17 and 15 points, respectively, while Emmanuel Nzekwesi paced the ORU rebounding effort with six boards and seven points. Martin notched a game-high five assists to accompany his gamehigh point total.
Oral Roberts shot well throughout the contest and finished 15-of-25 from behind the arc (60 percent) and shot even better inside the arc (62.5 percent). The outcome featured a season-high in points scored (95) and fewest points allowed (63) for the hosts.
Facing an early 13-5 deficit after holding a lead in the early portions of the game, John Brown stormed back with a 10-6 run, fueled by a Roberts layup and triples from Browling and English, cutting the ORU lead to just four, 19-15. Oral Roberts responded in kind, however, as the hosts rallied on a 12-0 run to build a 16-point lead, 31-15, with 5:10 remaining in the half.
An old-fashioned and-one from Roberts followed by a
Brenton Toussaint layup and a triple from sophomore Jake Caudle kept JBU in contention at the intermission, trailing by 19, 49-30.
An early Bowling triple kept the visitors within 17, 53-36, but ORU put the game out of reach over the next 3:56 by out-scoring JBU 14-2, to balloon the margin to 29, 67-38.
Oral Roberts out-rebounded JBU, 37-27, and forced 13 John Brown errors while the JBU defense coerced Oral Roberts in eight of its own.
John Brown returns to exhibition action on Sunday (Dec. 18) when it travels to Waco, Texas, to face Division I Baylor at 3:30 p.m. in another exhibition game. The Bears are currently 8-0 on the season and sport the No. 4 ranking in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, highlighted by six firstplace votes.