Box Score FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods men's basketball team suffered its third straight heartbreaking loss, this time at the final buzzer, with the Owls falling 88-86 to Graceland University.
With the Owls (0-3) averaging 82 points per game and the Yellow Jackets (4-1) putting up 92 points per game, fans were going to be in for a real treat when it comes to fast paced offenses.
The first half did not disappoint, as the hot shooting Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 14-5 lead over the Owls. WWU, however, known for making comebacks early on this season, did just that, as they went on a 7-0 run, cutting the deficit down to 14-12 after
Nate Bitner knocked in two free throws.
Graceland, continued to fend off the Owls early on and with 7:22 remaining, GU held a 25-20 advantage after Drew Emmert made both of his free throws.
The Owls came back down the court and
Patrick Lewis drained one of the teams five three pointers, putting the score at 25-23 and getting the momentum back on the Owls side with 7:10 remaining. That would be the closest WWU would get the rest of the half, as Graceland closed out on a 26-18 run and went into the locker room up 51-41.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first half, but Graceland held a slight advantage over WWU, shooting 45 percent (21-for-46), while the Owls hit 41 percent (14-for-34) of their shots from the floor.
Jonathon Nutt was the leading scorer for the Owls with seven, and just needed three points to hit the 1,000 career point total mark.
The Palmyra, Mo., native, wasted little time hitting 1,000 points, as the senior knocked in a two pointer to start the final 20:00 minutes off and then after a
Blake Burgess field goal to cut the deficit down to 51-45, it was Nutt again driving the left side of the lane, and he put up his shot, which was blocked by a Yellow Jacket player, however, the referees called it goaltending and gave him a total of 1,001 career points.
"Jonathon has been an extremely consistent player over his four years," said head coach
Nick Totta. "He is an extremely gifted offensive player, he has been fun to coach, his sense of urgency this year has been good and he is very deserving of what he has accomplished here at WWU."
After Nutt made the score 51-47, the Owls continued to chip at the Yellow Jacket lead, and put the GU advantage down to three at 53-50, after Bitner hit a three pointer. Bitner was solid off the bench and provided a spark throughout the game for the Owls, scoring a career high 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-6 from the three point arc.
"Nate wants to be a starter for us, so coming off the bench and having a night like he did, showed us he can be a starter and we know he is very capable of that as well" said Totta.
Graceland, however, gained momentum back on its side and silenced a packed Anderson Arena, as Austin Danner nailed a three pointer, capping off an 8-4 run, putting the score at 61-52 with 16:39 left in regulation.
As time ticked down, so did the Yellow Jackets advantage, but they still held a six point lead at 67-61 with 14:42 remaining. Senior
Blake Burgess rattled off five straight points for the Owls, including a three pointer that put the deficit for the Owls down to one at 67-66 and brought the crowd to its feet.
Burgess had himself a night, as he went 7-for-13 from the floor, totaling 23 points which is a new career high for him, breaking his previous mark of 22 points he set in the season opener against Missouri Valley College.
"Blake did a nice job tonight, as he got to the free throw line and I was very pleased with his effort taking care of the ball, having only two turnovers," said Totta. "His effort and urgency has always been good, and when a guy plays like that tonight, you wish we could have won it for him."
Graceland continued to hold a minimal advantage over WWU for the next 7:00 minutes, but after trailing in the game since it was 2-0 in the first half, the team was able to tie the game at 81-81, as Bitner hit a two pointer with 5:24 left on the clock.
Then, after a turnover by Graceland, Nutt was fouled on his shot attempt and went to the free throw line. The senior missed his first attempt, but nailed his second free throw, giving WWU its second lead of the game at 82-81 and brining a thunderous Anderson Arena to its feet yet again.
The final 3:38 in the game couldn't have been more exciting, as after Nutt gave WWU the lead, Danner came down the court and hit a two pointer, putting the Yellow Jackets back up by one at 83-82. The Owls and
Seth Thomas responded, as the senior hit his field goal the next trip down the court, and put the Owls back up at 84-83 with just 2:47 left.
The team continued to hold its one point lead, until it was Danner again, knocking in a three pointer and put GU back up 86-84 with 1:27 on the clock. Nutt had a chance to tie the game, but his shot missed and Danner came down with the defensive rebound, which forced the Owls to foul and put the hot shooter on the line.
Danner, shot 12 times in the game from the floor, but missed his lone free throw opportunity and Thomas got the rebound and WWU called a timeout with .20 seconds left in search of a play to tie the game.
Out of the timeout, Nutt got the ball in his hands and came up big for the Owls, hitting his shot, just inside the three point line and tied the score up at 86-86 with .10 seconds remaining, which forced Graceland to take a timeout of their own.
With .9 seconds remaining, Danner got the ball for the Yellow Jackets and dribbled down the right side of the lane, he weaved his way past two Owl defenders and knocked in his floater as the buzzer sounded, handing the Owls a tough two point loss.
"We played much better in the second half, after we made some first half adjustments on defense in the locker room," said Totta. "On offense, we more patient executing the offense better, however, the first half put us in a hole. We didn't execute the offense like we wanted in the first half, so we came out smaller with our lineup and we did a nice job coming back and taking the lead, but he (Danner) made a great play for them," said Totta.
Nutt was the third Owl to reach double-figures, totaling 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Graceland had four players reach double-figures, led by Danner having 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting and 5-for-7 from the three point arc. Jamal Lawson contributed 18 points, while Carl Martin and Drew Emmert scored 15 and 10 respectively.
Both team's shot over 45 percent from the field in the game, but what helped out Graceland in the victory was shooting 57 percent (11-for-19) from the arc.
The Owls will look to get its first win on the season on the road against Southwest Baptist University on Nov. 21
st. Tip-off will start at 7:00 p.m.
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com for full recaps and scores throughout the season.
