Box Score WALNUT RIDGE, Ark.— The William Woods men's basketball team saw its three-game win streak snap at the hands of Williams Baptist College on Tuesday night, as the Owls fell on the road 91-74.
The Owls (4-10; 2-2 AMC), jumped out to a 12-5 lead at the 16:18 mark, after going 3-of-6 from the three point arc, led by
Blake Burgess scoring seven points. For the next four minutes, WWU maintained its lead and were up 21-13, after
Nate Bitner knocked in his field goal attempt.
The Eagles (8-4; 2-2 AMC), however, responded by going on a 9-0 run, capped off by Tevin Howard hitting a three-pointer and giving WBC its first lead of the half at 22-21, with 9:14 remaining in the first frame. The two teams continued to trade baskets the next seven minutes, but the Eagles were able to hold a 35-29 lead over WWU, its largest of the half.
Williams Woods was not to be denied, however, as they went on an 8-2 run of their own to close out the first 20:00 minutes of play and both teams headed to their respective locker rooms all tied up at 37-37.
The Owls shot 36 percent in the first half, which is its lowest field goal percentage during the three game winning streak, but both teams shot well from beyond the three-point arc, as WWU netted 45 percent (5-of-11), while WBC shot 50 percent (8-of-16).
Senior
Jonathon Nutt was the leading scorer for the Owls with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting, while leading scorer James McClain was off to a hot start, totaling 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor.
In the second half, the Owls jumped out to a 43-42 lead, after Burgess knocked in another three-pointer at the 18:04 mark. The Jacksonville, Ill., native had a stellar game, scoring a team-high 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting and added a game-high nine rebounds.
On its next possession, McClain missed his shot-attempt, but got his own offensive rebound and scored the put-back, putting WBC ahead at 44-43.
After shooting 34 percent from the field in the first half, the Eagles couldn't miss in the finale of regulation, as they netted an astounding 66 percent (20-of-30) of its shots from the floor, while WWU shot 40 percent (13-of-32).
Once Williams Baptist took the one point lead at the 17:44 mark, they continued to hold off the Owls and with nine minutes and 53 seconds remaining, WBC was up 65-59.
WWU cut the lead down to just four at 65-61 on its next possession, after
Matt Helle scored his two-pointer, but that would be as close the Owls would get, as the Eagles closed out the game on a 26-13 run and went on for the 17-point win.
This is the fourth game in a row, that WWU had at least four players score in double-figures, as besides Burgess,
Seth Thomas and
Patrick Lewis totaled 12 points, while Nutt finished with 10.
The Eagles had six-players score in double-figures, led by McClain, surpassing his season average, netting 29 points (9-of-21 shooting), grabbed down seven rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists. Tony Jeffries and E.J. Rucker contributed 14 points each, while Howard (13), Kam Ashabranner (11) and Aaron Hamby (10) were the final Eagles to score double-figures.
The Owls will look to bounce back in the finale of its three-game road trip against Lyon College on Thursday Jan. 9
th. Tip-off is set to start at 7:30 p.m.
Fans should stay updated on wwuowls.com for full previews and recaps on the men's basketball season.
