Box Score FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods University men's basketball team won the programs first ever American Midwest Conference postseason game on Tuesday evening, as the Owls shot 61 percent from the field and went on for the 94-75 victory over Missouri Baptist.
 
The No. 8 seed Owls (9-22; 6-14 AMC), could not be stopped in the first frame on offense, as the team shot a season-high 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the field, 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from downtown and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from the free-throw line.
 
"It is nice for the seniors to host the game and pick up the programs first ever conference tournament victory," said head coach Nick Totta. "A lot of good things happened tonight, but I am just pleased for the seniors," he added.
 
The team jumped out to a 23-10 lead in the first frame at the 9:12 mark, after Klayton Kuschel hit his two-pointer off an MBU turnover. The Spartans (7-24; 6-14 AMC), would narrow the lead down to seven (41-34) with .55 seconds left in the half, as Kalvin Lewis scored his two-pointer in the paint, but two late free-throws made by Matt Helle sent the Owls to the locker room up 43-34.
 
Jonathon Nutt paced the offense through 20:00 minutes of play, totaling seven points and two assists, while MBU, who shot 48.3 percent from the field, was led by Chad Smith netting eight.
 
The Owls would push its lead out to 17 points at 56-39 in the second half, after Ryan Hill went 2-of-2 from the charity stripe with 14 minutes and 13 seconds left in regulation.
 
MBU, however, would battle back and within two minutes, the Spartans went on an 8-0 run and were now down by just eight at 56-48 at the 12:24 mark.  "We had to change some things up during their runs in the second half, but I was pleased with how we responded," said Totta.
 
The Owls came back with a run of their own, going on a 10-2 run and extended its lead back up to 66-50, after Blake Burgess drained his two-pointer.
 
Despite a few late runs from the Spartans, the Owls would maintain its double-digit lead the rest of regulation and go on for the 19-point victory. The 94 points scored by WWU is the second highest on the season, as they totaled 99 back on Nov. 30^th against York College.
 
William Woods finished the game shooting 61.7 percent from the floor, 55.6 percent from the three-point arc and 81.3 percent from the free-throw line, which is arguably one of their better offensive performances on the season.
 
"We shot the ball really well tonight," said Totta. "It is always good to shoot like that, so I was happy with our offensive performance."
 
The starting five led the way against the Spartans, with Nutt scoring a game-high 22 points (9-of-12 shooting) and added four rebounds. Seth Thomas had a strong game, totaling 15 points, including going 3-of-5 from downtown, while Dontre' Jenkins contributed 12 points and Burgess and Matt Helle each added 10.
 
The Spartans shot 46.6 percent from the field, led by Chris Buzzell scoring a team-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Kalvin Lewis netted 17 and grabbed down a game-high eight rebounds, while Smith had 10 points.
 
The Owls will now look to shock the AMC on Thursday evening and earn a road victory against No. 1 seed and reigning regular season champion Columbia College. Tip-off will start at 7:00 p.m.
 
"In order to have success there we need to continue playing well on offense," said Totta. "They are an outstanding team, it will be a tough challenge for us, but we will need to be just as good as them on both ends of the floor."
 
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow afternoon for a full preview on this quarterfinal showdown.

Tweet ##Owls_MBB