HENDERSON, Tenn.—The William Woods men's basketball team will look to pull a big upset on Saturday afternoon in its final regular season game, as the Owls pay a visit to No. 6-ranked Freed-Hardeman University. Tip-off will start at 4 p.m.
Despite shooting 26.9 percent (7-of-26) in the second half, the Owls (8-21; 6-13 AMC) were able to defeat Hannibal-LaGrange University 57-53 last night, thanks to
Blake Burgess and
Jonathon Nutt combining for 34 of the teams 57 points.
The team trailed 50-48 with just over a minute remaining in the game, but after a Trojan turnover,
Jayson Saldana came up with the steal and drained a three-pointer, which gave the Owls the lead back at 51-50, with .48 seconds left in regulation.
Nutt was able to put the game away, going 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and give the Owls an important four-point win. Burgess led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while also grabbing down a game-high 10 rebounds. Nutt netted 16 points, and was clutch from the charity stripe, going 8-of-8.
With the victory, the Owls have moved up to the No. 7 seed in the AMC standings, and it is looking more likely that the team will host the programs first conference tournament game on Tuesday evening.
Nutt has been playing well the past four games for the Owls, averaging 15 points and shooting 43 percent from the field, which has moved his season average to a team-high 14.6 points per game. Burgess has reached the double-figure plateau the last four games as well, averaging 21 points, and shooting 50.8 percent from the floor.
These two teams met back on Jan. 25
th, and the Owls gave the Lions (24-4; 17-2 AMC) everything they could, but FHU was able to hold off WWU for the 90-80 victory.
Patrick Lewis scored a game-high 21 points and was a perfect 5-of-5 from downtown, while Burgess also had an impressive game scoring 20 points and
Nate Bitner contributed 10.
What gave Freed-Hardeman the advantage in not only that game, but throughout the season, is their ability to win the battle on the boards, as the Lions outrebounded William Woods 48-27 in the game, including having a 17-7 advantage on the offensive side of the glass.
After going a perfect 17-0 in conference play, the Lions have dropped its past two conference games, falling to No. 4-ranked Columbia College (93-82) back on Feb. 22
nd, and Williams Baptist College (84-80) last night.
The two losses drop the Lions to the No. 2 seed and more importantly, for now at least, knocks them out of being Co-AMC regular season champions with the Cougars.
On the season, FHU is still averaging an astounding 87 points and shooting just under 50 percent from the field, while their defense is holding teams to 70 points and 39 percent shooting. Orlando Bass paces the offense, averaging 16.5 points and is shooting 45.5 percent from the field.
Kyle Teichmann continues to be a threat on both ends of the floor, also scoring 16.5 points, hitting 62.0 percent of his shots and has grabbed down a team-high 205 rebounds (7.3 rpg). Reginald Gilmore is third on the team in scoring, totaling 10.7 points, while Damion Wooten is contributing 9.8 points, but has dished out a team-high 120 assists.
This would be a monumental win for the Owls if they were able to pull the upset, and give the team plenty of momentum heading into the conference playoffs which is set to begin next Tuesday.
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score on the men's basketball final regular season game of the 2013-14 season.
