Box Score FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods men's basketball team fell just short of pulling a monumental upset against No. 3-ranked Freed-Hardeman, as the Lions escaped with a 90-80 victory over the Owls.

The Owls (6-14; 4-6 AMC), trailed 12-10 at the 15:24 mark after Kyle Teichmann hit his two-point attempt. WWU, then came down the court on its next possession and Patrick Lewis nailed a three-pointer giving the Owls its first lead of the game at 13-12.

Freed-Hardeman (16-0; 10-0 AMC), responded with a bucket by Teichmann again, but its lead was short-lived, as this time, Nate Bitner hit another three-pointer for the Owls at the 14:50 mark, and put WWU back up in front at 16-14.

For the next seven minutes and 18 seconds, William Woods would hold a lead over the Lions, including jumping out to its biggest lead of the game (32-24), as Matt Helle hit his field goal, with seven minutes and 52 seconds left in the first frame and the momentum all on the Owls side.

WWU, however, couldn't stop the FHU offense, as the Lions went on an 8-0 run and tied the game up at 32-32 with five minutes and 41 seconds remaining, after Debrell McLemore hit his shot from the three-point arc.

The Lions would push its lead up to 10 points (52-42) with .34 seconds left, its largest of the half, but WWU held for the last shot and made it count, as senior Blake Burgess knocked in a big three-pointer and cut FHU's lead down to 52-45 after 20:00 minutes of play.

The Owls shot 48.5 percent (16-of-33), while the Lions hit 54.1 percent (20-of-37), of its shots. WWU did force 11 turnovers, but were out-rebounded 21-14. Burgess paced the offense with 11 points, while Teichmann netted 10.

"I thought in the first half, we played well, but didn't finish some shots around the basket," said head coach Nick Totta. "They had more possessions and offensive rebounds in the half, and on the rebounds we allowed them to get some
quick put-backs," he added.

After FHU pushed its lead to 59-48 at the 17:12 mark of the second half, the Owls stormed back, going on an 8-4 run and cut the deficit down to just five (61-56), as Lewis hit his three-pointer and the crowd was getting loud yet again inside Anderson Arena with 14 minutes and 19 seconds remaining in regulation.  

Coming into the game, Lewis was shooting 15 percent from beyond the arc, but played a big factor for the Owls on the night, going a perfect 5-of-5 and finishing with a game-high 21 points.

"He (Lewis) did some good things in the game," said Totta. "It was surprising the way he shot the three ball tonight, but he drove the ball well and provided us a much needed spark," he added.

The Owls, however, went cold from the floor, which allowed the Lions to go on a 9-0 run and extend its lead up to 70-56, with 11 minutes and five seconds left on the scoreboard.

WWU would narrow the lead down to nine points at 78-69, with just over five minutes to play, but that would be as close as they would get, as the Lions held on for the 10-point win.

The team shot 42.6 percent in the game, with Burgess having another strong outing for the Owls, totaling 20 points (5-of-10 shooting) and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Bitner, was the final Owl to score in double-figures, playing well off the bench and scoring 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.

Freed-Hardeman shot 47.8 percent from the field and were led by Orlando Bass, netting a team-high 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, while Teichmann added 18 points and Ben Meis contributing 11 on the night.

The Owls did win the turnover battle (18-11), but ended up being out-rebounded 48-21, and FHU controlled the paint, outscoring WWU 38-16, including having 25 second chance points, while WWU had just seven.

"I was pleased with our enthusiasm and effort against a very good Freed-Hardeman team," said Totta. "I was disappointed we didn't make some plays, but we got to move on and get ready for Columbia."

The Owls will now get a nice break and jump back into action on the road against No. 7-ranked Columbia College on Jan. 30th. Tip-off for this American Midwest Conference showdown starts at 7:30 p.m.

Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com throughout the 2013-14 season for full previews and recaps on the men's basketball team.

Tweet ##Owls_MBB