Box Score BATESVILLE, Ark.- The William Woods men's basketball team dropped the finale of its three-game road trip and were held to its lowest point total on the season thus far, as the Owls fell 60-51 to Lyon College on Thursday night.
The Owls (4-11; 2-3 AMC), jumped out to a 3-2 advantage, after senior
Blake Burgess knocked in a three-pointer. That, however, would be the final lead of half and the game for WWU, as on the Scots next possession, Devonte Young made his two-point shot, giving Lyon a 4-3 lead at the 15:31 mark.
Lyon (4-10; 3-1 AMC) continued to hold the advantage over the Owls, but
Jonathon Nutt cut the deficit down to three at 20-17, with three minutes and 28 seconds remaining. The Scots closed out the first frame, however, on a 7-2 run, and at the end of 20:00 minutes of play, Lyon was up 27-19.
The Scots shot 60 percent (12-of-20) from the field, held a 14-8 rebounding advantage over WWU, and were led by Young netting 11 points. William Woods shot 33 percent (7-of-21) from the floor, with Nutt totaling 11 points. One thing the Owls were unable to do, like they have in previous games, is get to the free throw line, as they were blanked for the first time this season in one half of play.
"Nutt got back on track tonight offensively," said head coach
Nick Totta. "Hopefully this can be a momentum builder for him in our upcoming games."
The Owls exploded out of the locker room, going on a 7-0 run to start the second half, and now trailed by just one at 27-26, after
Matt Helle knocked in his two-point attempt at the 16:20 mark. The Scots followed that up with a 9-2 run of its own, and gained some breathing room with a 36-27 lead with 13 minutes and 42 seconds left in regulation.
The teams continued to trade baskets for the next seven minutes, then
Nate Bitner put the Owls down by just one for the second time in the half, after the junior nailed a three-pointer at the 6:45 mark, and now WWU trailed Lyon 43-42.
That would be as close as the Owls would get till the final horn sounded, as Lyon went on to win by nine and hand William Woods its second straight loss.
The team struggled all night from the floor, hitting just 32.7 percent of its shots and 28 percent from downtown. WWU did get to the free-throw line like it wanted in the second half, going 12-of-19 from the charity stripe.
"We put ourselves in a position to win, but we didn't hit some open looks that would have forced them to play faster," said Totta. "On the other hand, they made some plays offensively that allowed them to maintain the temp they wanted."
Nutt led the Owls on the evening, matching his season-average with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting and grabbed down five rebounds. Burgess shot 50 percent (5-of-10) against the Scots, totaling 12 points, while Bitner was the final Owl to score in double-figures, netting 12. Â
Lyon shot 61.1 percent from the floor, led by team leading scorer Young, finishing with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Rickey Thomas had a near perfect game off the bench for the Scots, totaling 15 points (6-of-7 shooting), while Jordan Layrock ended with 11 and a team-high six rebounds.
The Owls finally return home for its third game of the week and its fourth in seven days, as they host Missouri Baptist University on Saturday Jan. 11
th. Tip-off will start at 4:00 p.m.
Fans should stay updated on wwuowls.com for full recaps on scores on the men's basketball season.
