JBU takes down No. 2 Evangels
Golden Eagles hand MACU first defeat
John Brown and its fans were ready for the second-ranked team in the nation.
With a large vocal crowd spurring them on every step of the way, the No. 10 Golden Eagles handed No. 2 Mid-America Christian its first loss Thursday with an 81-74 victory inside Bill George Arena.
The arena wasn’t completely full like it is for the annual Toilet Paper Game, which draws an overflow crowd each year for John Brown’s home opener, but it was a big one and it played a role in the game, according to both teams’ coaches.
“It’s certainly the best (crowd) outside of a TP game that I’ve seen in my time here,” said John Brown head coach Jason Beschta. “It’s been fun. The school’s really rallied behind us already and I think our crowds have been better this year than before. I know we’ve had success, but we’ve got the kind of guys that integrate themselves well into the student body and lots of people know them and want to support them. They’re good guys and (fans) want to see us do well and they want to cheer them on. What a cool thing to see the whole school and community rallying around us tonight for such a big game. A small college basketball game doesn’t get a lot better than this.”
Mid-America Christian coach Josh Gamblin agreed with his counterpart after the Evangels dropped to 20-1 overall and 11-1 in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
“It was the best atmosphere we’ve played in during my five years at MACU,” Gamblin said. “It’s a credit to them. I thought they were very prepared. I thought they guarded the heck out of us. We haven’t been guarded that well all year.”
Junior guard Rokas Grabliauskas led the way for the Golden Eagles (19-2, 10-1), scoring a career-high 29 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field and 10 of 10 from the free-throw line.
“It was an amazing atmosphere,” Grabliauskas said. “We couldn’t ask for better fans. It’s definitely a motivation for us to keep grinding. Knocking down the number two team in the country gets us going even more.”
Grabliauskas had 14 points at halftime and another 15 after the break. He hit 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point line.
“He shot it with such confidence all the way through,” Beschta said. “Sometimes late in games he’s getting tired, and we try to manage his minutes later to keep him a little more fresh. Man, he was money at the line. He hit some big threes for us in the second half, but I thought in the first half he really kept us going. A big part of that was he took advantage of the way they were guarding us and we got into the bonus and he was just driving through contact. He does a good job of keeping the ball really strong so they don’t take it. He was able to draw some fouls and get some easier ones at the line, so that opened things up for us.”
The two teams played to a near stalemate in the first half with JBU taking a 33-32 lead at halftime.
After JBU’s Densier Carnes and MACU’s Calon Woodson traded 3-pointers to open the second, the Golden Eagles took control of the contest by going on a 16-1 run to open up a 52-36 lead.
JBU senior Quintin Bailey scored three straight buckets to open the run and MACU assistant coach Anthony Nero was hit with a technical foul, which led to two free throws from Luke Harper and a 44-35 JBU lead.
After MACU’s Tony Dorsey split a pair of free throws, Bailey scored inside on a putback and Grabliauskas and Kiree Hutchings nailed back-to-back 3-pointers for the 52-36 advantage.
“I thought they won at the point of attack,” Gamblin said of JBU. “They were more physical. I thought the biggest run of the game at the start of the second half, they won on every front — both ends of the floor. They were tougher. They got offensive rebounds. They put us inside the rim. Our pressure lacked. It’s a credit to them. They won the game.”
JBU held on to that double-digit lead as the game ticked into the final minutes thanks to late 3-pointers from Harper and Grabliauskas.
MACU had a late charge, but the Golden Eagles connected on enough free throws down the stretch to put away the win.
Overall JBU hit 25 of 49 (51 percent) from the field and 23 of 28 from the freethrow line.
Defensively, JBU held MACU to 26 of 56 from the field and 8 of 22 from the behind the 3-point line.
“I told the guys in the locker room before the game — and it’s easy to say it now after a win — but I said the word that came to mind is we’re prepared,” Beschta said. “We’re really well prepared. Coach (Tim) Kisner had us really locked in on what we’re doing with our scout. The guys were really focused on what we did.”
D’Von Moore scored 23 points off the bench to lead MACU, while Dorsey and Dominick Ford each had 13 and Ashford Golden 10.
Carnes scored 14 for JBU before fouling out late, while Harper had 13 and Bailey 11 points, eight rebound and five assists.
“John Brown is as good as anybody in the country,” said Gamblin. “This was a heavyweight matchup tonight. They’re well coached, they’re disciplined, they’re talented and they play together. It was a great college basketball game.”
After Thursday’s game, MACU remained a half game in front of the Golden Eagles for first place because they had played an extra game at that time. MACU also was responsible for JBU’s only SAC loss, a 73-59 setback in Oklahoma City on Jan. 4.
Both teams returned to action on Saturday with MACU playing a nonconference game against Bacone. John Brown was scheduled to play at Science and Arts (Okla.). Results were not available at presstime.
JBU is back in action on Tuesday at Central Christian (Kan.) before hosting Langston on Thursday at Bill George Arena.
“There’s (eight) conference games left and there’s not an easy night,” Beschta said. “You’ve got to bring it. I thought we’ve had that kind of mindset ever since that loss to Crowley’s Ridge (on Dec. 14). We’ve been talking about it. We’ve got to come in recognizing we’ve got a target on our back, play with kind of a chip on our shoulder and we’re going to keep it there.”
John Brown 81, MACU 74
Mid-America Christian 32 42 — 74 John Brown 33 48 — 81 Mid-America Christian (20-1, 11-1): Moore 23, Dorsey 13, Ford 13, Golden 10, Brooks 5, Jones 4, Slaughter 3, Woodson 3.
John Brown (19-2, 10-1): Grabliauskas 29, Carnes 14, Harper 13, Bailey 11, Obradovic 7, Hutchings 5, Beckom 2.