Box Score ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The William Woods men's basketball team snapped its six game losing streak on Saturday afternoon, as the Owls were able to defeat Missouri Baptist University, 75-64.
The Owls (7-19; 5-11 AMC), trailed 23-17 with 5:45 left in the first half, but then the team rattled off a 8-2 run and were able to tie the game up 25-25, with two minutes and 33 seconds left after
Ryan Hill knocked in two free throws.
Then, for the second time in the half, WWU grabbed the lead, after Hill drained a three-pointer and put the team up 28-25. The Owls would go on and maintain its three-point advantage the rest of the half and headed to the locker room up 30-27.
William Woods shot 38.7 percent (12-of-31) in the half, while Missouri Baptist (5-19; 4-10 AMC), hit 37.9 (11-of-29) percent of its shots. The WWU offense was paced by
Blake Burgess and Hill totaling seven points each, while MBU was led by Logan Quinn and Chris Buzzell, netting five points apiece.
"We made some adjustments at halftime," said head coach
Nick Totta. "We took 12 three-pointers in the half, so we wanted to cut that down in the second half. We played a much better half and as the game went on, we were much smarter with the ball on offense," he added.
In the second half, the Owls went on an 11-2 run in just over 3:00 minutes of play and took a comfortable 41-29 lead, after Burgess hit a three-pointer.
The Jacksonville, Ill., native, had a stellar performance on Saturday, scoring a game-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and grabbed down a team-high seven rebounds.
WWU would hold a lead for the next nine minutes, but the Spartans crawled back into the game and trailed 51-50 at the 8:24 mark, after Buzzell hit his two-point shot. The Owls, however, weren't phased and went on a 17-5 run and grabbed a 68-55 lead with a little over two minutes of play left in regulation.
William Woods would fend off the Spartans the rest of the game and go on for the 11-point victory and snap the six game losing streak.
The Owls fared much better in the second half from the floor, hitting 56.7 percent of its shots, which upped the end game shooting percentage to 47.5. Besides Burgess, senior
Jonathon Nutt added 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting and added two assists.
Matt Helle went 4-of-5 from the floor totaling nine points and Hill contributed seven.
"(Blake) Burgess and (Jonathon) Nutt played well for us today," said Totta. "As a coach, you always expect your veterans to play well. We haven't had the season like we wanted, but have a chance to finish strong."
MBU's  Kalvin Lewis, who scored a career-high 31 points against the Owls the last time out, was held to just 13 on 5-of-12 shooting this afternoon. Quinn, Buzzell and Cody Hudson finished the game with nine points each.
"We had a rough night on Thursday against Lyon College," said Totta. "We collected ourselves and I thought our effort and energy was good offensively and defensively. It feels good to get a win because we did the necessary things to get a victory," he added.
The Owls will now look to build off this win, as they pay a visit to Benedictine-Springfield on Feb. 18
th. Tip-off will start at 7:30 p.m.
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com throughout the 2014 season for full previews and recaps on the men's basketball team.Â
