No. 4 John Brown Faces No. 13 Georgetown in Round of 16
SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. (March 14, 2013) - After narrowly dispatching Life (Ga.), 68-66, in the opening round of the 2013 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships, the Golden Eagles will again find itself matched up with a team they have never faced before, in the form of 13th-seeded Georgetown (Ky.). The Round of 16 contest will tip-off at 12:30 p.m.
In the opening round, John Brown rode 18 points from E.J. McWoods to the win while Kofi Josephs and Colseson Rakestraw each contributed 15 points apiece. Despite only converting six triples, the Golden Eagle defense shutout Life from the field over the final 5:11 of the first half en route to the narrow victory. With the win, JBU moves to 10-5 all time at the Division I Men’s Basketball Championships.
Georgetown is arguably the most storied program in NAIA basketball history, making its national-record 22nd-consecutive appearance, 32nd overall, posting an impressive 55-30 overall record. This season, the Tigers have accumulated a 23-8 record entering NAIA tournament play, earning the No. 7 at-large bid after falling to Pikeville (Ky.) in the Mid-South Conference tournament. GC earned notable victories over Pikeville, Life and Martin Methodist (Tenn.).
The Tigers boast an impressive five players that average in double figures, led by senior guard Vic Moses’ 17.0 points per game. Moses is fresh off a game-high 26-point performance over St. Thomas (Texas), tournament champions of the Red River Athletic Conference, in the Round of 32. Moses is one of the most prolific players in the nation as the senior ranks first overall in field goal percentage (68.9) while averaging just over four offensive rebounds per contest, landing him third overall in that category.
Joining Moses is junior guard Monty Wilson, who averages 15.9 points per night, followed by senior guard Allan Thomas’ 14.1 scoring average.
Georgetown features a staunch defense that outrebounds its opponents by nearly 10 per game and posts 4.5 blocks on average. The Tigers’ offense, fueled by Moses, averages 84.8 points per game.
John Brown achieved a new program record with its win over Life in the Round of 32, reaching the 100-win plateau over the last four seasons, a first for any graduating class of Golden Eagles. With its win last night, JBU now has an overall record of 10-5 at the NAIA tournament, while five of those wins came in 2005 when the program captured its lone championship.
2013 Post-Season Quick Facts
Set a program-record by notching 27 regular season victories en route to its first-ever Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship...Featured in two NAIA National Game of the Week matchups against Oklahoma Baptist, finishing 1-1 against the Bison...Won an impressive five of seven contests against top-25 competition...Holds eight top-10 rankings in team categories including No. 1 in three-point field goal percentage (39.6), No. 3 in total three-point field goals made (335) and No. 3 in three-point field goals made per game (10.15)...Netted four All-Conference selections: Coleson Rakestraw (first team), Abel Galliguez (second team), E.J. McWoods (honorable mention) and Max Hopfgartner (honorable mention)...Features the 2013 SAC Freshman of the Year, Kofi Josephs, and SAC Coach of the Year, Clark Sheehy...Landed a winning streak of seven or more games three separate times, including an 8-0 start to the season...
National Tournament History
John Brown is making its third appearance in four years in Kansas City and its seventh all-time...Last season, the Golden Eagles were ousted in the first round by Montana - Western, losing 85-83 in overtime...In 2010, JBU earned wins over McKendree (Ill.) in the first round before bouncing Fresno Pacific (Calif.) in the second round, eventually falling to Southern Poly (Ga.) in the quarterfinals...In 2006, the Golden Eagles fell in the opening round to sixth-ranked Azusa Pacific (Calif.), one year after ousting the Cougars in the 2005 National Championship game...In 2005, John Brown pieced together an unprecedented five-game stretch en route to its only national championship, downing Union (Tenn.), Louisiana State at Shreveport, Biola (Calif.), Carroll (Mont.) and Azusa Pacific in consecutive fashion after winning five of its last six games entering the tournament with its only loss coming in the SAC tournament title game to Oklahoma Baptist...In 2004, JBU dispatched eventual NCAA I member Houston Baptist (Texas) in the first round only to come up short in the second round against Concordia - Irvine (Calif.)...The Golden Eagles won its first-ever game at Kansas City in 2003, besting seventh-seeded Azusa Pacific in the opening round before falling in a close contest to Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) in the second round...John Brown boasts a 10-5 all-time record in seven appearances at the National Tournament, holding a 66.7 win percentage and is the only institution from the state of Arkansas to win a title in Kansas City...
