WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. – The William Woods University men's basketball team suffered its second American Midwest Conference loss and was held to its lowest point total on the season thus far, as the Owls fell 82-53 to Williams Baptist College Saturday evening.
The Owls (3-6; 1-2AMC) endured another rough night of shooting and couldn't stop the Eagles offense, as four WBC players ended the night in double-digits, which saw both Abel Yekeh and James McClain recording a game-high 21 points.
Williams Baptist College put the pressure on the Owls right off the back, as they went on a quick 8-0 run.
Darrien Dickey would then get WWU on the board at the 16:39 mark with the old-fashioned three-point play, trying to get the Owls offense a boost of energy.
Despite the valiant effort, that would be as close as the Owls would get to WBC in the first half, as William Baptist continued to hold the advantage over the Owls but
Nate Bitner knocked down a three pointer with 5:26 left to play, cutting the Eagles lead down to 33-20. However, WBC closed out the first 20:00 minutes of play on a 10-5 run, giving them a 47-29 lead going into the locker room.
The Owls shot a 42 percent from the floor in the first frame, led by Bitner, who collected eight points, while the Eagles were 19-for-33 from the floor and shot a 54 percent from beyond the arc.
In hopes to change the momentum of the game, the Owls came out of the locker room and scored the first two possessions of the second frame, as Dickey netted a field goal in the paint, then converted a Eagles turnover into two free-throws, making the score 47-31.
Shortly after, Williams Baptist offense exploded, as the team went on a 16-0 run in a seven-minute span, extending their lead to 30 points, 65-35 with 10:00 minutes of play in the final frame. During that span, the Eagles were red-hot from the three-point line nailing 3-of-5.
Despite a hard fought battle, the Eagles would run away with the AMC match-up, as the team went on to secure a 82-53 victory and handed the Owls its second straight conference loss.
WWU struggled all night from the floor, hitting just 36 percent of its shots and a 15 percent from downtown, while the Eagles shot a blistering 56 percent from the floor and were lights out from beyond the arc, going 12-of-21 (57 percent).
DJ Johnson led the Owls on the evening, recording another double-digit night with 12 points. WWU freshman, Dickey, chipped in 11 points, as he went 50 percent from the floor and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe on the night. For the second consecutive game,
Jarett Boss had a great performance off the bench, netting 10 points.
"Have to give a lot of credit to Williams Baptist, as they played outstanding tonight," said head coach
Nick Totta. "We didn't execute what we needed to do to take away their strengths"
Totta added, "We are not a very good team right now and can be a lot better but have several things we need to short out." "It is very possible for us to be a better team and we have to commit to making that happen."
The Owls return to action in a week, as the team goes on another road trip, this time to take on Haskell University in Lawrence, Kansas for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com for a full preview of this match-up.
