Box Score LAWRENCE, Kan.—The William Woods men's basketball team dropped its second straight close game on the year, falling to Haskell Indian Nations University 88-84 on Tuesday night.
It was a thrilling first half between the two teams, as there were 14 ties, but with 13:09 remaining, a two point basket made by Grant Proctor gave Haskell a 21-17 advantage, which was their largest of the half.
The teams went basket-for-basket from then on, but the Owls were able to take its largest lead of the first half at 30-27, after
Jonathon Nutt made a three pointer with 7:00 minutes remaining.
After Nutt's basket, neither team was able to pull away with the clock ticking towards halftime, as Haskell was able to go on an 8-2 run, capped off by a two pointer made by Wilber Everett to take a 35-32 lead at the 2:49 mark.
WWU, however, answered right back, as senior
Blake Burgess nailed his two point shot and he was fouled on the play, so he was able to make his free throw and tie the game back up at 35-35.
The two teams flipped leads the final two minutes, but with .56 seconds left in the half, Haskell led 41-40, until Burgess was fouled on his shot attempt, giving him two shots with .44 seconds remaining. The Jacksonville, Ill., native was able to drain both free throws and the Owls went into halftime up 42-41.
The Owls shot 41 percent in the first 20:00 minutes, led by senior
Seth Thomas with 10 points and four rebounds. What continued to give the team trouble was turning the ball over, as they had 12 turnovers, while only forcing six.
Just like the previous game, however, the Owls jumped out from halftime with momentum, as Thomas hit one of his five three pointers in the game, extending the Owls lead to 45-41. Haskell had an answer, as they went on a 5-0 run to take a 46-45 lead with 17:39 left in regulation.
For the next 3:00 minutes, the teams battled, and for the 16
th time in the game, it was all tied up at 54-54. Things, then started to go the Owls way, as they went on a 6-0 run of their own, capped off by a
Ryan Hill two point basket, pushing the teams lead to six, its largest lead of the game, at 60-54.
The Indians, however, continued to be pesky and forced the 17
th tie in the game at 60-60, after Dillion Thompson hit his two pointer. But,
Patrick Lewis responded, making his two point basket after the Indians tied the game, and gave WWU the lead back with 11:26 left on the clock.
Haskell was able to regain the lead at 69-68 with 8:09 remaining and for the next 5:00 minutes, the Indians were able to maintain its marginal lead over the Owls.
WWU didn't give up though, as for the 20
th and final time, the score was all tied up at 78-78 as Nutt hit a two pointer. The Indians responded with Proctor, who was fouled on the next trip down the court and he made both of his free throws, putting the score at 80-78 with just over 2:30 left to go.
From then on, however, the Indians never relinquished its lead and were able to hold off a threatening Owls team, going on for the 88-84 victory.
Head Coach
Nick Totta was pleased with his offenses performance throughout the game. "For the most part our offense was good enough to win," said Totta. "We didn't execute down the stretch well enough for us to gain the victory though."
Offensively, the Owls were led by Nutt, who had a game high 22 points on 8-for-17 shooting and had a team high seven rebounds. Thomas continued his hot shooting from the previous game, going 8-for-13 from the floor, including 5-for-7 from the three point arc, for 21 points.
Eli Fleer made an impact off the bench with 13 points, on 5-for-8 shooting. After fouling out in 7:00 minutes played in the season opener, Coach Totta saw much improvement from the 6-10 center. "Eli did good things for us, he was aggressive and stayed out of foul trouble, which allowed him to get minutes and make more of an impact in the game."
The Indians (1-3), were led by Thompson totaling 20 points and eight boards. Proctor added 18 points on 6-for-13 shooting, while Everett and Blake Pittman had 11.
The Owls shot better than the Indians from the floor and the three point arc, but the team shot just 69 percent (18-for-26) from the free throw line, while Haskell shot 82 percent (19-for-23).
William Woods will look for its first win on the season in front of the home crowd on Saturday Nov. 16
th against Graceland University. Tip-off will start at 7:00 p.m.
