SPRINGFIELD, Ill.—After earning a 75-64 victory over Missouri Baptist its last time out, the William Woods University men's basketball team will look for its second win in a row against Benedictine University at Springfield on Tuesday night. Tip-off will start at 7:30 p.m.
The win over MBU on Saturday, snapped the Owls (7-19; 4-11 AMC), six game losing skid. After heading to the locker room up 30-27 over the Spartans, WWU outscored its opponent 45-37 in the second half, shooting 56.7 percent from the floor and 50 percent (3-of-6) from downtown.
The offense was led by seniors
Blake Burgess (19 points) and
Jonathon Nutt (18 points), who combined for 37 of the teams 75 points. Burgess, a Jacksonville, Ill., native, went 7-of-14 from the floor, and added a team-high seven boards, while Nutt drilled 7-of-12 of his shots in just over 26 minutes of play.
"For the most part I thought we played a complete game," said head coach
Nick Totta. "I thought our effort and energy was good, while as a coach it was a fun for me to be a part of," he added.
On the season, the team is putting up 74.2 points per game, led by Nutt averaging 14.6 points, shooting 80.2 percent from the charity stripe and has dished out a team-high 63 assists. Burgess, moved his average up 13.4 points, is netting 45.3 percent of his shots and leads the team in rebounds with 142 (5.7 rpg).
Patrick Lewis (9.0 ppg),
Nate Bitner (8.8 ppg) and
Seth Thomas (7.8 ppg), have been solid players on both ends of the floor for the Owls, as the trio is scoring just under 10 points per game.
Back on Jan. 14
th, inside Anderson Arena, the Bulldogs (11-13; 6-9 AMC), paid a visit to Fulton, Mo., and roared back in the second half, as they outscored WWU 47-34, and escaped with a 78-75 victory over the Owls. William Woods had three players in double-figures, led by Burgess totaling 18 points, while Nutt and Lewis scored 15 and 11 respectively.
"BenU-Springfield is an athletic team and this time around, we have to limit them on the offensive glass," said Totta.
BenU-Springfield, had four players lead the comeback, as Justin Smith scored a team-high 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Jordan Michels (15 points), Nick Bennett (12 points), and Myles Harvell (11 points), also played big roles for the Bulldogs in the win.
Since then, BenU-Springfield has gone 5-4 in their past nine games, and currently holds the No. 5 seed in the American Midwest Conference standings, but are just 1.5 games ahead of the Owls (8
th seed), who are inching up the standings.
Smith leads the offense, putting up 15.8 points, shooting 49.8 percent from the floor and has totaled a team-high 116 rebounds. Thomas Dillard is scoring 13.0 points and leads the Bulldogs at the free-throw line, hitting 78.8 percent of his chances, while Bennett is third on the team in scoring, totaling 10.3 per game.
"He (Smith), is a nice player and we have to make him uncomfortable on offense," said Totta. "Defensively, we can't let him get him on a roll, so we need to keep the ball out of his hands."
This will be a big game for both teams, as the Bulldogs could put separation between them and the Owls, while a victory for WWU would put them even closer to the 5
th seed.
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow evening for a full recap and score from this important AMC showdown.
