KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The William Woods University men's basketball team will go on the road and pay a visit to Avila University Wednesday night for a 7:00p.m. tip-off.
The Owls (1-2) are coming off a 1-1 record in the Columbia College Classic this past weekend, as the team fell to Graceland University 81-62 but then bounced back and defeated Concordia Seminary University 84-52, to recorded its first victory of the season.
"After playing a poor first half, we came out, responded and played a better second half," said head coach
Nick Totta. "I think we also learned what not to do in our first victory and hopefully that will help us down the road."
On the weekend,
Ryan Hill led WWU offensively, as the sophomore guard scored a team-high 13 points against GU and a career-high 19 points against CSU.
Some other key performances for the Owls were from,
DJ Johnson and
Darrien Dickey. Johnson, the 6 foot 7 forward, collected a career-high 14 points and 8 rebounds against the Preachers, while Dickey, contributed 23 points and nine rebounds on the weekend.
"Offensively, we havent played real well, however these guys have provided us with scoring and finishing plays," expresses Totta. "As a group we are not where we need to be but if we execute better it will only benefit them."
Totta added, " We need to play harder and more focused to capture this victory on the road." "If we can do that then it will translate to better defense and execution, if we are playing intense then we can cover up the mistakes that we are making at this time of the year."
In last years meeting against Avila University, the Owls snapped a six-game losing streak by defeated the Eagles 86-78, in a game that saw four players reach double-figures.
AU returns top player Sedrick Johnson, who led the team in almost every category in the 2013-14, points per game (18.4), rebounds per game (5.5), assists (121), steals (60) and blocks (13).
Another returner for the Eagles is senior guard, Brandon Murillo, who was third on the team in scoring with 12.1 ppg last season.
"Avila is a very athletic team, they do a good job defensivley by putting pressure on you and try to take you out of what you want to do." said Totta. "The team also executes well on offense and has very quick guards." "We will need to handle the pressure, value the ball and defend their ball screens."
Avila University is currently 1-2 on the season, as the team is coming off a 0-2 performance this past weekend in the Concordia Invitational, falling to York College and Concordia University.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com for score and full recap of this match-up from Kansas City, Missouri.
