Box Score FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker against Benedictine University at Springfield inside Anderson Arena, as the Owls fell 78-75 to the Bulldogs.
 
The Owls (5-12; 3-4 AMC), went basket-for-basket with BenU-Springfield (6-9; 1-5 AMC) the first eight minutes of the frame, as the two teams tied the score up five different times.
 
WWU, however, held a 20-19 lead at the 10:11 mark and then took a comfortable 29-19 lead, after going on a 9-0 run over a four minute span, capped off by Blake Burgess knocking in two free throws. Burgess, a Jacksonville, Ill., native, played a stellar first half, totaling 15 points.
 
The Bulldogs would narrow the advantage down to six at 29-23, after Jonatan Newbell hit his two-pointer, but that would be as close as they would get until the buzzer sounded, as the Owls forced BenU-Springfield to take unwanted shots on offense, allowing WWU to head into the locker room up 41-31.
 
William Woods shot 45.2 percent (14-for-31) in the first half from the field, while the defense stepped up its play, holding the Bulldogs to just 30.2 percent (13-of-43). The Owls got the ball on the inside throughout the half and drove the lane, allowing the team to get to the free throw line 15 times, making 10 of those attempts from the charity stripe.
 
In the second half, Nate Bitner extended the team's lead to its highest of the game at 15 points (46-31) at the 18:42 mark, after grabbing down an offensive rebound and scoring his put-back attempt in the paint.
 
With just 11 minutes and 45 seconds left in regulation, the team was still up 59-49, but then the offense went cold from the floor (2-of-7), which allowed the Bulldogs to go on a 14-4 run over four minutes of play and tie the game up 63-63, after Thomas Dillard drove down the court and hit his lay-up shot.
 
The Owls maintained its composure, however, as senior Jonathon Nutt hit another three-pointer, putting the team back up 66-63 with six minutes and 22 seconds left on the clock.
 
BenU-Springfield kept fighting back and it paid off, as the Bulldogs took its first lead of the game at 67-66 since the score was 15-14 in the first half, as Myles Harvell scored off an Owls turnover. The Bulldogs would push the lead to a game-high five points at 73-68 remaining at the 2:18 mark, but Nutt rattled off five straight points for the Owls, which tied the score up at 73-73 with just .51 seconds left in the game.
 
Then, on the Bulldogs next possession, Nick Bennett drove towards the rim and earned the old-fashioned three-point play, after hitting his shot attempt off the backboard and getting fouled on the play.
 
Trailing by three points (76-73), the Owls had one final chance to tie the game up, but missed its three-point attempt with just seconds remaining and the Bulldogs went on to shock William Woods by three 78-75.
 
WWU shot 43.8 percent in the game, but just 28 percent from the three-point arc and after getting to the free throw line 15 times in the first half, the Owls only got to the line three times in the finale. Burgess led the Owls with a game-high 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, while Nutt chipped in 15 points and Patrick Lewis added 11 off the bench.

BenU-Springfield shot 54 percent (17-of-31) in the second half and 92.3 percent (12-of-13) from the free throw line. The team had five players score in double-figures, led by leading scorer Justin Smith, passing his season average, totaling 17 points on the night on 8-of-15 shooting.
 
Jordan Michels scored 15 points, nine of which came from the free throw line, while Newbell (12), Nick Bennett (12) and Harvell (11), were the final players to reach the double-figure plateau.
 
The Owls will now get ready for a road-trip on Thursday Jan. 16^th, as the team travels to Mid-Continent University in search of its fourth conference win. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
Fans should stay updated on wwuowls.com for full previews and recaps on the men's basketball season.

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