Box Score FULTON, Mo.— The William Woods men's basketball team snapped its two-game skid, as the Owls cruised to a 62-38 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange University on Thursday night.
The Owls (6-13; 4-5 AMC), controlled the first half from start-to-finish, holding Hannibal-LaGrange (2-14; 2-6 AMC) to just 28 percent shooting from the floor. The team held an 11-8 advantage on HLGU at the 10:12 mark, and then took over the next four minutes of play, going on an 11-0 run and extended its lead to 22-8 with six minutes and 25 seconds left on the clock, after
Blake Burgess knocked in a two-pointer.
Burgess, a Jacksonville, Ill., native, was solid all night for the Owls totaling 15 points in the first half and finished the game tying his career-high with 23 points (8-of-10 shooting). "He (Blake), played really well on the night, took care of the ball and added nine rebounds for us," said head coach
Nick Totta.
The Trojans closed out the half on a 10-5 run, but headed to the locker room still down by nine points at 27-18. William Woods shot 47.6 percent in the first frame and out-rebounded HLGU 18-14. Throughout the half, the Trojans offense looked very uncomfortable as the Owls defense pressed the half-court.
"We wanted to dictate the tempo early on and get them in a situation when they get past the half-court, the shot clock is already down and now we run the zone and get them to work," said Totta.
In the second half, Hannibal-LaGrange cut the Owls lead down to six points (33-27), after Daniel Piper hit a two-pointer with 12 minutes and 54 seconds remaining in regulation. WWU, however, responded well and went on a 10-3 run over a five minute period and gained the breathing room back to double-digits, as Burgess knocked in a three-pointer and put the Owls up 43-30 at the 7:54 mark.
It was all William Woods from then on out, as the team closed out the game on a 19-8 run and went on for the 24-point victory. The 38 points scored by the Trojans was its lowest amount on the year.
"I was pleased with our effort tonight," said Totta. "We did a nice job covering shooters in the zone and did a good job rebounding, having 35 defensive rebounds. "We shot it well from the three-point arc (39 percent), but we executed very well defensively," he added.
Besides Burgess, 11 other Owls scored points on the night, as
Ryan Hill added eight points and five boards, while
Jonathon Nutt,
Damon Burrow and
Dontre' Jenkins added five points each on the night.
The Trojans were led by Joe Williams scoring 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting and he was the lone player to score in double-figures. After scoring 24 points against Williams Baptist his last time out, Piper was held to just seven against WWU on 2-of-13 shooting.
The Owls will be back in action this Saturday, as No. 3-ranked Freed-Hardeman University pays a visit to Anderson Arena. Tip-off will start at 4:00 p.m.
"We know Saturday is going to be a challenge, but I anticipate us ready to come out and play to have success," said Totta.
Prior to the men's game, at halftime of the women's game, William Woods University will be inducting the 2014 Hall of Fame Class that includes, the 2002 men's volleyball team, Ashley Windmiller, Erin Jewell-Zamora and Patricia Wilderman-Miller.
Also, both teams along with other schools around the country, will be participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer and Sneakers Awareness Weekend, in an effort to fight cancer and raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society.
To learn more about the Coaches vs. Cancer and Sneakers Awareness Weekend, click
HERE.
