Basketball made its grand return to the John Brown University campus on Oct. 29 with the World-Famous Toilet Paper Game, the first one to take place in 727 days. It served as the season opener for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams and provided a great sense of normalcy on the campus, with a packed house present at Bill George Arena for the first time since the pandemic started.
The women’s basketball team opened the night against Ozark Christian. The Ambassadors came to BGA after previously losing just days before against Sooner Athletic Conference opponent Mid-America Christian, 95-50. In the first meeting between the two schools since 1986, the Ambassadors played the Golden Eagles close at the start of the game, as the game was tied at 12 halfway into the first quarter.
However, the Golden Eagles proceeded to get on a 31-5 scoring run after and never looked back, cruising to a 78-49 win. Redshirt freshman Emily Sanders was a key figure behind JBU’s first half scoring run and led the way for the Golden Eagles with 16 points, including four triples. Sanders also added six rebounds, three blocks and two steals in her debut. 2020-21 All-Conference 2nd Team player Tarrah Stephens was right behind her with 15 points. Natalie Smith (13 points) and Marta Matamala (10 points) also hit double figures.
“We’ve been excited for Emily [Sanders] to get healthy and play. Last year, we sat her all year so she could recover from her knee injury,” head women’s basketball coach Jeff Soderquist said regarding Emily Sanders. “With her height at point guard, she really adds a lot for us, and we’re excited. She’s just going to get better.”
Soderquist was also impressed with the play of his bench, as ten Golden Eagles got on the board and 31 of the team’s points came from players outside of the starting five.
“I subbed a lot tonight. We’ve got a deep bench and we used them well. I think that’s going to have to be a strength this year,” Soderquist said, “Tonight, Tarrah [Stephens] got in foul trouble right away. Josie [Sisk] came in and did a good job off the bench. We need that on nights like this.”
The World-Famous Toilet Paper Game tipped off afterwards, with Barclay coming to Siloam Springs to face the Golden Eagles for only the third time in program history and for the first time since 2016. Graduate student Brenton Toussaint hit the first shot off of an assist from DJ Ellis to trigger the “Greatest Technical Foul in Sports” eleven seconds into the game. It was a memorable moment and served as a highlight in the eventful JBU career of Toussaint, who is playing in his sixth season at JBU after receiving an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic.
Once the toilet paper was cleared from the floor, play resumed. Barclay came in bringing a lot of scoring talent, and it showed as they kept the game close with JBU throughout most of the first half. The Bears led at multiple points in the first ten minutes of the game, but much like in the women’s game, a big scoring run from the Golden Eagles propelled JBU to a more comfortable situation as the half progressed. After getting down 19-16 with 11:24 left in the first half, the Golden Eagles got on a 28-12 run to end the half, taking a 44-31 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, JBU picked up right where they left off, as the difference between the two teams never got any closer than nine in the last twenty minutes of play. The Golden Eagle offense continued to produce at a high level, scoring 57 in the second half. A made jumper by James Beckom with 29 seconds left put JBU into the triple digits, and the Golden Eagles took the win, 101-69. Luke Harper led the way with 25 points, and hitting the 1,000 career point mark, while Densier Carnes added 16. DJ Ellis hit double figures with 13 points, and a total of 13 Golden Eagles scored.
When speaking on the experience of that night, head men’s basketball coach Jason Beschta pointed to the energy of the crowd that night and the support that the JBU community showed as key. “I loved that they came out and supported us tonight, but then they stayed. There have been years in the past where we get all into the TP moment and by halftime, the crowd gets a little bit more sparse. It didn’t feel like anybody left tonight,” Beschta said, “They wanted to be here. They want basketball to be here. They want and crave some type of normalcy so it was just incredible to see that, and hopefully we can keep that going.”
Photo by Katelyn Kingcade / The Threefold Advocate