COLUMBIA, Mo. – The William Woods University men's basketball team captured its first win of the 2014-15 season against Concordia Seminary University, in the team's second game of the Columbia College Classic.
 
In a back and forth first half, that saw both teams struggling on the offensive side, the Owls had a late surge in the first half to gain momentum going into halftime.
 
Ten minutes left in the first half, the Owls saw themselves trailing the Preachers 19-22, after a field goal from Ryan Hill, coming within one of CSU, and the Owls began a 16-7 run.
 
The Owls ended the first 20:00 minutes of play shooting a 48 percent from the field and going 13-for-27, while WWU held the Preachers to 11-for-39, shooting only a 28 percent.
 
Hill, was the leading scorer for the Owls going into the locker room with 11 points, while Damion Tipler added seven points.
 
Coming out of the half, it was all William Woods offense, as Klayton Kuschel hit the first field goal for the Owls and it was no stopping the team from there.
 
After a CSU turnover, Jarett Boss converted it into a two-point bucket, extending the Owls lead to 72-50 with only 5:36 left in the game.
 
With only 2:00 minutes left in the match-up, DJ Johnson would seal it with a field goal in the paint, giving Owls its largest lead of the night (30) and securing the team's first victory of the season by defeating Concordia Seminary 84-52.
 
The Owls ended the night shooting a 50 percent from the field, going 32-for-64, while out rebounding the Preachers 58-37 and going 18-for-28 from the free-throw line.
 
For the second consecutive game, Hill lead the way for the Owls, recording a new career-high with 19 points, while also adding seven rebounds on the night.
 
Freshman Darrien Dickey, collected a career-high 14 points, which was good for the second leading scorer for the Owls. He went 8-for-10 from the charity line and tallied seven rebounds.
 
WWU saw great performances from Johnson, Boss and Alec Mulvihill as well, as they contributed 13, 12 and 11 points respectively.
 
Kuschel, led the Owls again on the boards, as he collected a career-high 13 rebounds.
 
The Owls ended the Columbia College Classic going 1-1 and will return to action Wednesday, November 12^th, as the team pays a visit to Avila University for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
 
Fans check back on wwuowls.com for a full preview of this match-up.

Tweet ##Owls_MBB