Golden Eagles Do the Little Things Right in 82-67 Trip-Ending Victory
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (December 30, 2015) -- Junior Ricky Roberts secured his first-career double-double and the John Brown men's basketball team (7-7) evened its overall with an 82-67 victory over host The Master's (Calif.) on Wednesday (Dec. 30) night inside the Bross Gymnasium.
Roberts posted 17 points and grabbed a career-best 12 boards while taking over JBU's scoring lead, averaging 16.8 points per game. He has now scored in double figures in 13 of John Brown's 14 games this season. The rest of the Golden Eagles' leading scorers came through as senior Griffin Brady followed up his own double-double performance with a game-high 19 points on the strength of four triples, the fourth time he's hit a quartet of long-range shots this season, and also added eight rebounds and a pair of steals. Senior Luke Moyer rebounded from a difficult game last night to contribute 16 points and handled the ball well, dishing out a game-best six assists while committing just one turnover.
Triples were falling early as four Golden Eagle shots from downtown fell from Moyer, Brady and freshman Jake Caudle, sending the visitors to an early 16-4 lead less than six minutes into the contest. An 8-0 run, capped off by a layup from junior Miguel Martinez, handed JBU its largest lead of the half, 17, nearing the midway point of the frame.
Leading 28-13, The Master's (4-7) rallied on an 8-2 run of its own, closing the Golden Eagle gap to nine, 30-21. Junior Nate Anderson responded with a thunderous dunk, but the Mustangs continued to chip away at the deficit, keeping John Brown off the board for the next 2:58. During the stretch, TMC pulled within five, 32-27, until Roberts responded near the close of the period with a triple followed by a pair of conversions at the line, handing JBU a 39-31 lead at the half.
Brady helped the Golden Eagles start strong in the second half, capping off a 10-4 run with a jumper followed by another triple on the next possession. After the Master's converted an and-one from the line with 15:24 remaining, the Golden Eagle defense held the Mustangs without a field goal for the next 4:46. During the stretch after Roberts finished off an old-fashioned three-point play, John Brown mounted its largest lead of the game, 19, with a 59-40 lead.
The JBU lead never dipped to single digits for the remainder of the contest.
Junior Ricky Roberts hits his lone three of the night to give JBU a double-digit lead in the second half.
John Brown shot just 37.7 percent (26-of-69) from the field, but grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and committed just nine turnovers, a season-low, in the victory. Despite the low overall shooting percentage, the Golden Eagles hit 33 percent (11-of-33) from behind the arc. The Master's shot just 33.3 percent (20-of-60) in the game, but committed 12 turnovers and lost the rebounding battle to JBU, 48-45.
For the first time this season, the Golden Eagle bench provided more than 20 points, led by six each from Caudle and Anderson. Freshman Benjamin Smith added five and four boards while freshman Brandon Joseph hit his only triple attempt in the first half to finish with three.
Reid Shackleford led the Mustangs with 16 points and three rebounds while JP Webster added 13 and nine, just missing the double-double. Kaleb Anderon came off the bench to post 12 points and seven boards in the loss.
The Golden Eagles will now rest until Jan. 7 when it returns to conference play at Mid-America Christian (Okla.) at 8 p.m. in Oklahoma City.
