FULTON, Mo.- After nearly pulling a huge upset over #1 Columbia in their regular season finale, the William Woods University men's basketball team was locked in as a #5 seed in the American Midwest Conference tournament, waiting to see who their opponent will be.
It seemed that the #5 seed Owls would be traveling to #4 seed Missouri Baptist, however, Williams Baptist College got upset against Harris-Stowe University, falling 66-48, which allowed Missouri Baptist to jump up to the #3 seed and the Eagles dropped to #4.
The two teams have met twice this year, with each getting a win on their home floor. The first meeting was back in January, where the Owls dominated from the start over WBC, leading at the half 56-26 and went on for the 103-55 victory. The team shot 50.7% from the field, while the defense held the Eagles to 22.8%.
William Woods had five different players in double-figures led by
Logan Decker, scoring 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and added five rebounds. Also reaching the double-figure plateau was,
Jonathon Nutt and
Seth Thomas each adding 15,
D.J. Hoskins chipping in 13 points and
Blake Burgess adding 12.
In the second meeting at Williams Baptist, the Owls again jumped out to an advantage and heading into the locker room, William Woods was up 40-31. The Owls continued to hold a decent lead as the team was up 67-59, with 4:28 left on the clock. However, in those final 4:00 minutes, the Eagles went on a 15-2 run, going on for the 74-69 victory.
After shooting 53.1% in the first half, the shooting went cold in the second, as WWU shot just 38.7% from the field. Hoskins led the way offensively, totaling 21 points and seven rebounds, while
Seth Thomas chipped in 16 off the bench on 6-of-12 shooting. The Eagles were led by Zabian Sanders, whom went off for 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting, and Kyle Harvey was the other lone double-digit scorer for the Eagles, ending the night with 20 points and six rebounds.
So now its official, in the first round of the AMC tournament, William Woods will travel to Williams Baptist on Thursday, for a game-time that is set to start at 7:00 p.m. To view the men's American Midwest Conference bracket, visit
HERE
