Box Score FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods men's basketball team dropped its third straight game on Saturday afternoon, as the Owls fell to Williams Baptist College 74-66 inside Anderson Arena.
The Owls (6-16; 4-8 AMC), shot 37.5 percent in the first half, but just 1-of-12 from downtown in the first 20:00 minutes of play. The Eagles (11-9; 5-7 AMC), jumped out to a 19-13 advantage over WWU, as Kevin Charles hit his two-point jumper.
WWU, however, responded going on a 10-4 run, capped off by
Eli Fleer hitting his two-pointer and for the fourth time already in the half, the game was tied at 23-23 with six minutes and 34 seconds remaining.
WBC would continue to hold a marginal lead over William Woods, but a late jumper by
Jonathon Nutt with four seconds left, tied the score up at 32-32. The Owls thought they would be heading to halftime all tied, but leading scorer James
McClain hit a three-pointer as the horn sounded and put the Eagles up 35-32 at the half.
After missing the Columbia game due to injury, Nutt, a Palmyra, Mo., native made his presence felt on both sides of the ball, scoring six points and adding seven rebounds. WBC was led by Charles and E.J. Rucker, totaling nine points each, while Tony Jeffries added seven boards.
In the second half,
Matt Helle cut the lead down to one at 37-36, but then the Eagles exploded on offense, going on a 16-4 run and took a 53-40 lead over WWU with 12 minutes and 47 seconds left in regulation.
Like they have on numerous occasions this year, the Owls came storming back, going on a 18-7 run over a five minute span and were now just down by two at 60-58, after senior
Blake Burgess knocked in a three-pointer from the corner.
That would be as close as they Owls would get till the horn sounded, as WBC was able to hit its free-throws when needed and held on for the 74-66 win, sweeping the season series between the two squads.
The Owls shot 35.7 percent in the game, and they were led by junior forward
Nate Bitner, scoring 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting and added a team-high seven rebounds. Burgess put in another solid night on the court, totaling 13 points (5-of-11 shooting) and six boards. Nutt tallied nine points, while Helle,
Dontre' Jenkins and
Patrick Lewis added six points each.
The Eagles were led by Charles, scoring a game-high 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while Rucker netted 18. McClain, who was averaging 19 points on the season, was held to just nine by the Owls defense, but teammate Jeffries scored seven points and grabbed down a game-high 12 rebounds.
WWU will look to get back in the win column next Thursday night in St. Louis, Mo., as the team pays a visit to Harris-Stowe State. Tip-off will start at 7:30 p.m.
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com throughout the rest of the 2014 season for full previews and recaps on the men's basketball team.
