FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University men's basketball team escaped a nail biter on Saturday evening, as the team defeated Missouri Baptist University 80-76 and snapped its two game skid.
The Owls (7-12; 4-7 AMC) came out on top in a hard fought battle, in a game that saw the score tied seven different occasions and totaled a combined of 94 free throw attempts. In a back and forth first half, WWU got on the board first with two free throws from
Nate Bitner but the Spartans would quickly tie the game for the first time at the 17:53 mark, 2-2
Shortly after, at the 11:42 mark, the Owls would extend their lead to the largest of the half, as
Klayton Kuschel forced a MBU turnover and connected with
Jerel Wilhite for two points, making the score 10-5.
Then with less than a minute to play in the first frame, Missouri Baptist tried to take the momentum into the locker room by taking a 29-27 lead after a Cody Hudson field goal. However, with the clock winding down, WWU came down the floor and found a open Bitner on the wing, as he would sink a three pointer right before the buzzer, giving the Owls the one point, 30-29 advantage going into the half.
In the first frame, William Woods shot 43 percent from the line and was a 9-of-15 from the free throw line, leading the way was Bitner who collected seven points and
DJ Johnson who added six points.
The Spartans would come out of the locker room and knock down the first field goal of the half, retaking the lead at 31-30 but that would be the last time, as the Owls controlled the rest of the second half.
WWU would go on a 6-0 run, after a field goal from
DJ Johnson and an old fashion three-point play from
Ryan Hill, pushing the score to 40-33 in the Owls favor. Although, the Spartans would not go down without a fight, as MBU would go on a 5-0 run of their own, and cut the Owls lead to one, after two free throws from Cody Hudson, making the score 41-40 with 13:00 minutes left to play.
Down the stretch of the match-up the Owls would extend its lead to double digits, after two free throws from Jarrett Boss and then with 4:57 minutes left in regulation, the Owls pushed their lead to its largest of the game, 60-54 after a pull up jumper from
TaiRhe Turner,
Missouri Baptist would come out in full court defense, trying to put pressure on the Owls, after forcing a few WWU turnovers the Spartans would capitalize and come within three points with 1:30 left to play but then Owls point guard Wilhite would come down the lane and put up a runner and was fouled in the act, putting WWU up by two possessions, 77-72.
After a three pointer for Spartans Cody Hudson, with .30 left on the score board making the score 79-76, William Woods maintained its composure and went on to knock down a free throw and secure the 80-76 victory.
WWU closed out the game shooting 51 percent from the field, led by Johnson totaling 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and grabbing down a team-high eight rebounds on the night.
Turner, tied his career high chipping in 10 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and going 4-of-6 from the free throw line, while Bitner and Hill would make it count from the charity stripe, going 6-of-6 and 5-of-5 respectively and totaling nine points each.
The Spartans would end the night shooting 38 percent from the field and despite having four players ending the night in double figures, the Owls were able to capture its fourth American Midwest Conference win.
"It was a good win and we did alot of positive things," said head coach
Nick Totta. "I would of liked to have handled the last four minutes differently but I was pleased how everyone contributed and hpefully we can build of this win."
The Owls will return to play in a week, as the team starts the second round of AMC play paying a visit to Benedictine University at Springfield for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.
Fans check back next week on wwuowls.com for a full preview of this match-up.
