Golden Eagles win opening round game

PLAINVIEW, Texas — After struggling through the first 20 minutes of play, junior Luke Harper and the John Brown offense finally found its rhythm as the Golden Eagles outscored host Wayland Baptist (Texas) 44-27 in the second half en route to a 66-55 win in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday

evening inside the Hutcherson Center.

Harper hit 5 of 9 from the field and converted all eight attempts from the stripe in the second half — scoring 20 of his gameleading 26 in the second half. After hitting just 25 percent from the floor in the first half, John Brown (8-6) responded with a 41 percent clip (12-of-29) in the second half and finished the night 22 of 30 from the charity stripe.

“I am so proud of the team tonight,” admitted head coach Jason Beschta. “To go on the road at one of the hardest places to play and fight back after an early deficit showed a lot of grit. At halftime we focused on owning mistakes and moving past them immediately. We started the half with a big shot and you could feel the energy from the guys on the floor to the guys on the bench. They were committed to doing this together.”

Harper’s triple to break open the second half jump-started a 19-3 John Brown run over the next 7 minutes, 56 seconds that saw the Golden Eagles turn a three-point deficit into a 10-point lead, 41-31, with just over 12 minutes left in the contest.

Wayland Baptist (7-5) struggled in key areas in the last 20 minutes, including a 24-15 rebounding deficit and the Pioneers committed double the JBU turnovers, 8-4, allowing JBU to win its fourth straight meeting in Plainview.

Senior Densier Carnes battled through a tough shooting night to contribute his third doubledouble of the season – 15 points and 13 rebounds, while freshman Noah Taylor came off the bench to provide a trio of timely triples.

The Golden Eagles were scheduled to play Saturday in the semifinals. Results were not available at presstime.