COLUMBIA, Mo- The William Woods University men's basketball team dropped its first game of the Columbia College Classic against Graceland University, falling 81-62.

The first half was a slow start offensively for the Owls, as the Hornets jumped out to a 12-6 lead after a three pointer from Austin Danner. However, WWU would begin to cut the lead, as Alec Mulvihill connected with DJ Johnson for a two-pointer, making the score 8-12. Then Ryan Hill would hit a field goal to come within one of GU (11-12).

At the 11:08 mark, Graceland's Danner, would capitalize on an Owls turnover, hitting a field goal in the paint to extend the Hornets lead 25-14.
The Owls wouldn't go without a fight, as the team got some offensive momentum, with ten minutes left to play in the first half, as Freshmen Damion Tipler and Darrien Dickey got on the board with two field goals in the paint, making the score 25-18.

Despite the boost of energy, that would be as close as the Owls would get to the Hornets for the rest of the first half, as GU went on a 22-9 run, giving them a 50-27 lead going into half time.

In the first 20:00 minutes of play the Owls went 11-for-29 and shot a 37.9 percent from the field, while the team was 4-for-9 from the charity stripe and only 1-for-8 from beyond the arc. Leading the way was Hill, who totaled nine points at the half.

Although the Owls out rebounded the Hornets, the team didn't have much of an answer for GU's guard, Danner, as he lead all scorers in the first half with 23 points.

Coming out of the locker room, the Owls offense put more pressure on the Hornets, as Johnson recorded two quick field goals to cut the GU lead down to 20 (51-31).

Then WWU would continue to claw back, as the team went on a 17-8 run, while Jerel Wilhite sank two free-throws off a GU turnover, cutting the Hornets advantage to 69-54, with 6:56 left to play in the game.

The Owls defense found an answer in the second half to the Hornets leading scorer.  Danner, who only collected one field goal the whole second half but still ended the night leading all scorers with a game-high 25 points.

The Owls offense also was a lot more productive in the last 20:00 minutes, as the team would out score GU 35-31. However, Graceland would go on the secure a 81-62 victory in the first match-up of the Columbia College Classic.

William Woods ended the night going 25-for-60 from the field, shooting a 41 percent, and out rebounding the Hornets 38 to 37. Although, the Hornets were red hot from behind the arc, as they ended the night going 10-for-20, compared to the Owls 2-for-15.

Hill, a St.Louis, Missouri, native scored a career-high 13 points, to lead the Owls on the day, as Austin Lowery, tied his career-high by adding 10 points, Dickey and Johnson also contributed to the scoring for the Owls, as they totaled nine and eight points, respectively.

Sophomore, Klayton Kuschel lead the Owls on the boards with seven rebounds, while he also collected six points in the match-up.

The Owls will take on Concordia Seminary University to wrap up the Columbia College Classic, tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. The Preachers were defeated by Columbia College tonight 100-36, in their first game of the Classic.

Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com for score and recap of the Owls last game tomorrow, in the Columbia Classic.
 
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