SILOAM SPRINGS -- John Brown used some red-hot shooting to cool off St. Gregory's on Saturday evening in Bill George Arena.
The Golden Eagles hit 10 of 15 3-pointers in the first half to grab a big lead and cruised to the 90-68 Sooner Athletic Conference victory.
How They Scored
Women
John Brown 75, St. Gregory’s 51
St. Gregory’s^24^27^—^51
John Brown^36^39^—^75
St. Gregory’s (2-17, 1-9): Lundy 18, Howard 9, Lee 8, Leach 8, Howgard 6, Clark 2.
John Brown (8-13, 3-7): Mendoza 24, Ankrom 15, Barker 14, Fernandez 7, Knos 5, Rogers 4, Brown 2, Carrasquillo 2, Deines 2.
Men
John Brown 90, St. Gregory’s 68
St. Gregory’s^31^37^—^68
John Brown^51^39^—^90
St. Gregory’s (10-8, 6-4): Vierra 23, Wilkerson 14, Jones 8, Ritchie 6, Boddie 6, Lemley 5, Mazibuko 4, Walter 2.
John Brown (13-9, 5-5): Feitl 21, Hopfggartner 18, Brady 12, Elksnis 9, Erickson 8, English 7, Ledford 6, Olayemi 5, Anderson 4.
St. Gregory's (10-8, 6-4) came into Saturday's game having won five of seven to climb into second place in the SAC, but had no answer for hot-shooting John Brown.
The Golden Eagles put together a 19-0 first-half run to take control. D.J. Feitl keyed the run with three consecutive 3-pointers. The 6-foot-3 junior finished off the surge with a nice feed to Griffin Brady for a layup and 40-23 JBU lead with three minutes, 43 seconds left in the half.
Feitl poured in a team-high 21 points, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, while Max Hopfgartner added a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. The 6-9 senior was also 3 of 3 on 3-pointers. Brady was also in double figures with 12.
John Brown (13-9, 5-5) finished the night making a sizzling 55 percent (31 of 56) from the floor, including 15 of 23 (65 percent) from 3-point range.
JBU coach Jason Beschta also pointed to his team's 52-23 rebounding advantage in the game.
"That is a really good team," Beschta said. "They've got three starters back from a team that made the final four last year. They've got an All-American at the point back. I think it shows our guys, hopefully, what we're capable of against anybody."
John Brown also honored the 2005 NAIA National Championship team at halftime. Beschta said his team was motivated to play well in front of the honorees.
"We got to spend time around them and hear their stories and how it happened for them," Beschta said. "It was better than anything I could do in the pregame."
Jaron Veirra finished with a game-high 23 points for St. Gregory's, while Marty Wilkerson, who leads the SAC in scoring, was limited to 14 points on 6-of-18 shooting.
Women
John Brown 75, St. Gregory's 51
Sofia Mendoza poured in a game-high 24 points off the bench as the Golden Eagles used their size advantage to snap a three-game losing streak.
Mendoza dominated the paint, making 10 of 13 shots from the floor and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds for JBU (8-13, 3-7). She keyed an 11-0 first-half run to help the Golden Eagles take control.
The 6-5 junior scored nine consecutive points, after the Cavaliers took a brief 13-12 lead. Lauren Rogers gave JBU the lead with two free throws, then Mendoza took over. She scored off a nice feed inside, hit a 3-pointer, displayed a nice touch off the glass and finished it with a turnaround jumper for a 23-13 JBU lead with less than 10 minutes left in the first half.
Mendoza scored seven consecutive points as part of a 14-0 second-half run that put JBU in command, 63-37 with less than eight minutes left.
Morgan Ankrom added 15 and Brooke Barker 14. They combined to go 10 of 14 from the floor.
Denisha Lundy led St. Gregory's (2-17, 1-9) with 18.
Paul Boyd can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulB.
Sports on 02/01/2015