Golden Eagles’ win streak ends at Langston

The John Brown men’s basketball team saw its three-game winning streak end Saturday with an 85-54 loss at No. 3 Langston.

The Golden Eagles (714, 5-10) trailed 47-32 at halftime, and the Lions outscored JBU 38-22 in the second half.

Lukas Gabani led JBU with 21 points on 9 of 16 shooting from the floor.

Malachi Reeves added 12 points, while James Beckom had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

JBU hit 18 of 54 shots from the field, but struggled from long range with 1 of 16 3-point shots made.

The Golden Eagles also had 22 turnovers.

Five Langston (21-1, 15-1) players scored in double figures, led by 16 points apiece from A.J. Rainey and Tristan Harper.

James Ellis had 15 points, while D’Monte Brown had 12 and Cortez Moseley had 11.The Lions hit 31 of 62 from the field.

Langston only turned the ball over 12 times.

JOHN BROWN 78, CENTRAL CHRISTIAN 52

After three early ties during a defensive struggle, the Golden Eagles pieced together an early run that handed the hosts a comfortable double-digit lead the rest of the way as the John Brown University men’s basketball team dispatched Central Christian (Kan.), 7852, to win its third straight on Thursday night (Jan. 26) inside Bill George Arena.

Freshman Malachi Reeves hit a triple that broke a 6-6 tie and jump-started an 18-5 run that saw five different Golden Eagles post points as the hosts built a 24-11 lead. Triples from seniors DJ Ellis and Payton Guiot down the stretch solidified a 15-point lead at the intermission.

Largely behind a monster 15-point, 24-rebound performance from Jamir Spivey, the Tigers (6-15, 4-11 Sooner Athletic) hung around through the first half of the latter period, but back-toback and-one plays from freshman Lukas Gabani and

Guiot ended the Tigers’ comeback aspirations. John Brown closed the game on a 25-12 run, holding Central Christian to 4-of-13 from the field in the final 8:41.

Gabani hit 6 of 9 from the floor to net a team-high 14 points, adding six rebounds. Senior Tyren Collins added 12 points and seven boards, while Guiot battled for 11 points and added six steals.

Eleven players scored for the Golden Eagles, which finished 38 percent from the field (27-of-71), but outscored the Tigers 64-32 in the paint. The visitors battled with their goal all evening long, hitting just 18 of 60 from the field (30 percent) and converting just 4-of-20 from behind the arc.

UP NEXT

John Brown’s home game against Oklahoma City on Tuesday was postponed for the second straight week and rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 7.

John Brown is scheduled to travel to Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Thursday before heading to North Texas at Dallas on Saturday.