OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University came back to win 60-57 against John Brown (Ark.) on Wednesday night at Abe Lemons Arena. 

The Stars erased an early 11-point deficit to rally for the victory. Oklahoma City went to 5-6, 4-1 in Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball. 

Densier Carnes canned a trey to build a 16-5 John Brown advantage with 11:20 showing in the first period. Luke Harper's lay-in put the visitors on top 18-7 midway through the first half. 

"That was a really hard-fought game for both teams," OCU coach Mark Berokoff said. "I was proud of our kids after a long tough road trip Thursday, Saturday and Monday, and then coming out here and competing. I was really proud of them." 

The Stars chipped away at the John Brown lead throughout the remainder of the first half. Rashaun Coleman provided a 3-point play as OCU scored the final five points of the half to trail 29-27 at halftime. 

Oklahoma City went ahead for the first time in the game 40-38 as Romario Spence drove the lane for a bucket with 12:39 to go. The Stars reeled off an 11-0 surge sparked by Ryan Birt's five points. OCU went up 52-43 on Coleman's layup with 5:54 remaining.  

Carnes' putback gave John Brown its final lead of the contest 55-54 with two minutes left. Spence nailed free throws to move OCU ahead 56-55 at the 1:43 mark. Spence added to the lead with a dunk. Jordan Keys hit crucial free throws for OCU with five seconds left. 

The Stars limited John Brown to 30.1 percent shooting from the floor with a 27.8 percent field-goal percentage in the second half. OCU held John Brown to 7-of-38 shooting from 3-point range (18.4 percent). While John Brown entered the contest eighth in the NAIA with 10.7 made 3-pointers per game, OCU has allowed foes to shoot 24 percent from beyond the arc for the third best percentage in the nation. 

"They got a lot of offensive rebounds, and we were able to continue to make them fight and miss some shots and get the one crucial rebound we needed," Berokoff said. "We worked on defending the 3 and trying to get through screens, and the guys did an outstanding job on it. Again we held people below their averages." 

Coleman, a senior from Houston, posted his first double-double of the season with 19 points and a career-best 11 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes for the second consecutive contest. Spence, a senior from Luton, England, delivered 19 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots, while Birt, a senior from Plano, Texas, supplied OCU with 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals. 

"He fights," Berokoff said of Coleman. "He's a big-time fighter. He makes big-time plays. He made some big-time baskets down late." 

Oklahoma City takes on Paul Quinn (Texas) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena.