WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. -- Dontre' Jenkins (New Madrid, Mo.) was a career-high 11-of-14 from the free throw line and
Jonathon Nutt (Palmyra, Mo.) led all scorers with 21 points as the William Woods men's basketball team downed Williams Baptist College 79-72 on Thursday. Nutt was one of four scorers in double figures for the Owls on the night.
The game was a see-saw battle, seeing nine lead changes and two ties over the course of the contest. Williams Baptist opened up the first big lead of the game, pulling out to a 7-16 lead over the first 8:33. Jenkins had three of the Owls points over the span, opening the WWU account with a bucket at the 17:58 mark and adding a free throw with 15:49 left in the half.
Andrew Miller (Whangamata, New Zealand) sparked the Owls to their first lead of the contest, sinking a 3-pointer following an offensive rebound off a
Thomas Chadwick (Springfield, Mo.) free throw miss. The trey sparked a 17-5 run for WWU, culminating in a 24-21 lead with 4:26 to go to the half.
After taking a 30-28 lead into the break, WWU pushed its lead as far as five in the opening minutes of the second half before WB threw up 11 unanswered points over a three-minute stretch to retake the lead at 42-48 with 11:11 to go.
With 8:17 to go, the Owls found themselves down 49-57 following a technical foul issued to Jenkins. On the ensuing WBC possession the senior swiped the ball from Cordarius Smith, with the Owls eventually finding a bucket in the lane from
Seth Thomas (Hannibal, Mo.). The basket kicked off a 17-4 run as WWU grabbed a 66-60 lead with 4:12 left.
Williams Baptist threatened to close with just over two minutes left on the clock, taking advantage of three key free throw misses by WWU. The Owls were able to tighten the screws, however, closing out the game with 10 straight makes from the charity stripe to preserve the win. Jenkins and Nutt each racked four FTs, with
Logan Decker (Kansas City, Mo.) adding a pair in the final minute.
WWU improved to 12-16 on the year, moving to 3-7 in AMC play. The Owls shot at a steady .431 for the game, holding Williams Baptist to a .360 pace on the night. WWU took 36 trips to the free throw line in the contest, converting on 29 - both season highs - and allowed WBC just 13-of-17 shooting from the stripe.
The Owls close out the regular season road slate on Saturday, taking on Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Mo. Tipoff for the contest is set for 4 p.m.
