The William Woods University men's basketball team finishes its two-game road swing on Saturday, taking on Hannibal-LaGrange University to open the back half of the AMC slate for both teams. The Owls are looking to snap a two-game slide and move up the AMC standings.

Quick Look - William Woods
Despite the 1-5 record in AMC action, the Owls have seen several strong performances on the conference slate and could just as easily be 5-1 in the league. Jonathon Nutt (Palmyra, Mo.) has surged recently to lead the Owl offense with 15.8 pts/gm in AMC action. The redshirt sophomore is one of three WWU players averaging double figures in league play, with Logan Decker (Kansas City, Mo.) and Roy McElroy (Aurora, Ill.) contributing 15.2 pts/gm and 10.7 pts/gm on the year respectively. Overall, Decker leads the Owls with 15.5 pts/gm on the year, with McElroy (5.8/gm) and Nutt (5.3/gm) pacing the Owls on the boards.

As a team, the Owls have been solid on the glass, with the third-most total rebounds in the nation (975) and the 16th-best per-game mark (40.7) among NAIA Division I schools. The Owls are also solid on the defensive side of the ledger, particularly from beyond the arc, as WWU has held its opponents to a .290 mark from distance (14th) and a .412 shooting mark overall (29th). Allowing just 69.6 pts/gm has also put the Owls 48th in the country. Individually, Decker is ranked 36th in the nation in free-throw shooting with an accuracy rate of .795, and the junior is 28th in the country in total points with 371.

Dontre' Jenkins (New Madrid, Mo.) is solid from the point for WWU, with his 2.91 assists per game good for fifth in the AMC. Looking at the conference slate alone, his average bumps up to 3.2 dimes per contest, good for fourth on the list.

Quick Look - Hannibal-LaGrange
The Trojans come into Saturday's game with a 3-3 record in conference action and a 10-11 overall mark. Gerrell Wells leads the team with 13.8 pts/gm on the season, with Arii Meuel adding 10.8 per contest. Against conference foes, Chris Smith and Leon Carswell have surged, averaging 12.2 pts/gm and 11.3 pts/gm respectively to better their season averages by nearly three points each.

Although HLGU holds a rebounding margin of nearly three per game, it's a scant reward, as the Trojans manage just 32.8 boards per contest themselves. On the flip side, by holding its foes to just 30.0 rebounds per game, HLG ranks 7th in the nation. Hannibal-LaGrange is also a fairly accurate shooting squad, ranking 30th in the country with a .464 clip on the season.

Looking Back
These two teams met back in January and despite a strong second-half shooting performance from the Owls (.593 from the floor, .600 from 3-pt range) the Trojans were able to outpace WWU with a .650 clip of its own. After trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, WWU was able to close within two points, but HLGU knocked in its final four free throws on the night to leave the Owls on the wrong end of a 77-83 scoreline.

Milestone Watch
Earlier this season, Logan Decker became the second player in the short history of the William Woods University men's basketball program to record 1,000 career points, reaching the milestone against St. Louis Christian College. He reached the mark in just 72 games, a full 23 games faster than Dan Anderson. The junior sits just 63 points shy of breaking Anderson's career mark of 1,245 points, achieved in 112 appearances for WWU. Decker has played in just 83 games for WWU and is within reach of the 1,500-point plateau should he keep up his current pace.