The John Brown Golden Eagles took the basketball court on Tuesday, Feb. 22 for the first round of the SAC basketball tournament. The Golden Eagle men finished the regular season with an 18-12 overall record, in addition to a 12-10 record in SAC play, which was good enough to be on top of a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference. As a result, they received hosting duties for their first round contest against last-place Langston. Meanwhile, the JBU women finished 15-15 overall and 11-11 in SAC play, good for sixth in the conference and a matchup against 11th-place Oklahoma Panhandle State.
In the women’s game, JBU had their hands full in the first half, as the Aggies were able to play them close. The Aggies led at several points in the first half, but a big offensive push from Grace Latham in the closing minutes of the second quarter allowed JBU to head to the locker room with the lead, 30-26.
The game remained close throughout the third quarter, as the JBU lead remained at four heading into the fourth quarter (45-41). The Golden Eagles were able to finally gain some separation between themselves and OPSU with a strong fourth quarter, outscoring the Aggies 20-12 en route to a 65-53 win. Tarrah Stephens led the way for JBU with 17 points, while Natalie Smith added 12.
“I thought we did a really good job [at] guarding. I thought our defense was spot-on,” JBU head women’s basketball coach Jeff Soderquist noted, though he added that, despite the winning effort, “this was not one of our best nights offensively.”
Next, the JBU men took on a Langston team that had not won a SAC game up to this point in the season. The Lions played JBU close for most of the first half, but JBU was able to roll into the locker room with a 44-31 lead at halftime off of a strong performance from Luke Harper (17 points in the first half).
In the second half, JBU was able to maintain their strong lead, largely due to the heroics of Peyton Guiot, who scored 19 points in the second half alone and led the team in scoring overall with 24. The end result was an 89-73 win over the Lions, their third this season over Langston.
“We stayed the course really well in the second half,” JBU head men’s basketball coach Jason Beschta said, “We knew the pressure was going to get picked up, and we just kept finding ways to make things happen.”
With their Tuesday night wins, both JBU basketball teams punched their tickets to the quarterfinals. The JBU women will do battle against Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth, Texas. Texas Wesleyan defeated JBU most recently on Senior Day last Saturday, 91-61.
The JBU men will face Wayland Baptist, the fourth-ranked team in the conference, in Plainview, Texas. In their only matchup this season, Wayland was victorious in a low-scoring affair (49-48). The JBU women’s game will tip off on Friday, Feb. 22 at 6:05 and the men’s game will tip off at 8:05.