SILOAM SPRINGS -- John Brown's two-headed monster of Densier Carnes and Luke Harper came through again Saturday afternoon.
Carnes and Harper, the Golden Eagles' top two scorers at 14.6 and 18.4 points per game, respectively, combined for 50 in an 85-68 win over Southwestern Christian at Bill George Arena.
Carnes and Harper were at their best when JBU (23-3, 14-2 Sooner Athletic Conference) needed them the most.
JBU led by 14 midway through the second half when a Southwestern Christian run sliced the Golden Eagles' lead down to 55-52 with 8:45 remaining.
Harper responded by hitting six-straight free throws on JBU's next three offensive possessions. Carnes followed that with a three-pointer and a pair of free throws of his own as JBU got the lead back to 68-54 with 5:30 remaining.
Carnes finished with 27 points, including five-straight 3-pointers. Harper had 23 points, highlighted by going 10 of 10 from the free-throw line.
"We needed Densier to show a night where he was going to fire some shots and knock them down," said JBU head coach Jason Beschta. "Sometimes he gets hesitant if he misses one or two. And to see Luke battle back from a rough first half shooting-wise and to come back and be really aggressive in the second half and knock shots down was really exciting to see."
Kiree Hutchings hit three late 3-pointers and finished with 13 points as JBU maintained its double digit lead the rest of the way.
JBU finished 28 of 58 from the floor and 10 of 26 from long range.
The Golden Eagles remained in second place behind Mid-America Christian with four games remaining in the regular season.
Darius Madkin led Southwestern Christian (13-11, 6-10) with 21 points, while Charles Dickson had 16 and Richard Anderson 10.
John Brown 85, Southwestern Christian 68
Southwestern Christian;23;45;--;68
John Brown;29;56;--;85
Southwestern Christian (13-11, 6-10): Madkin 21, Dickson 16, Anderson 10, Henderson 8, Dantzler-Fulner 5, White 4, Washington 2, Wynn 2.
John Brown (23-3, 14-2): Carnes 27, Harper 23, Hutchings 13, Perrier 7, Bailey 6, Grabliauskas 5, Beckom 2, Stolz 2.
Women
Southwestern Christian 65, John Brown 61
Thamires Andrade scored 24 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as Southwestern Christian held off a late JBU rally.
Southwestern Christian led by 16 points in the third quarter, but JBU whittle it down to 9 entering the fourth.
John Brown got it down to 4 points twice before SCU went back ahead by 7 in the final seconds. An intentional foul and technical foul on Southwestern Christian with three seconds remaining helped JBU narrow the final score.
Kylee Vestal added 16 points for Southwestern Christian (17-7, 9-7) and Mackenzie Janz had 11.
Tarrah Stephens led JBU with 16 points, while Taylor Fergen had 15.
Southwestern Christian 65, John Brown 61
Southwestern Christian;10;16;21;18;--;65
John Brown;11;13;16;21;--;61
Southwestern Christian (17-7, 9-7): Andrade 24, Vestal 16, Janz 11, Morley 3, Clarke 3, Yager 2, Mays 2, Wade 2, Bettis 2.
John Brown (8-17, 4-12): Stephens 16, Fergen 15, James 9, Teague 6, Goldman 5, Williams 4, Martin 3, Altman 3.
Sports on 02/16/2020