Fulton, Mo. -- Logan Decker (Kansas City, Mo.) calmly drained a three-pointer as time expired as the William Woods University men's basketball team earned its first AMC win of the season, a 67-65 triumph over Williams Baptist College on Saturday. The junior was one of four scorers in double figures for the Owls, leading the team with 18.
The game opened at a feverish pitch, as each team had two possessions within the first 60 seconds of the game, with WWU finding itself down 6-9 with just under three minutes gone.
Over the next five minutes, however, the Owls weren't able to find the range and found themselves in a 15-point hole, trailing 8-23 with 11:37 to go. Four three-pointers - two each for
Jonathon Nutt (Palmyra, Mo.) and
Seth Thomas (Hannibal, Mo.) - powered a quick 16-4 spurt to close the gap to four, but WBC was able to push the lead back to 10 at halftime, with the Owls trailing 27-37 as they headed to the locker room.
The Owls whittled away at the lead throughout the second half, finally taking the lead with 2:28 to go. Decker pulled WWU level at 57-57 with a pair of free throws with 3:05 on the clock before converting a three-point play to put William Woods in front 60-57.
After trading buckets down the stretch, William Woods found itself down 64-65 with 5.0 seconds on the clock. On the inbounds play, Nutt drove the length of the floor. Once he hit the frontcourt, he dished to a wide-open Decker in the right corner and watched as the junior lofted a last-gasp effort with a pair of defenders crashing on him.
Although Decker had missed on his six previous attempts in the contest, his seventh found nothing but net as the buzzer sounded, giving the Owls their first AMC win of the year.
In addition to Decker's 18, three other Owls recorded double-figure games - Nutt with 12,
Andrew Miller (Whangamata, New Zealand) with 11 and Thomas with 10. Jenkins and
Roy McElroy (Aurora, Ill.) each grabbed seven rebounds for WWU, who held a 47-46 edge on the boards on the afternoon. For the Eagles, Jake Veasley led all players with 22 points and nine rebounds.
WWU will continue conference play on Thursday, welcoming Harris-Stowe State University to Anderson Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. The game, which is the second of a conference doubleheader featuring the WWU women's basketball team as well, is part of the NAIA's annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers weekend. Fans can donate during the game, and there will be a post-game auction as well to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
