HANNIBAL, Mo.—The William Woods University men's basketball team used a late second half surge on Thursday night to pick up a key road victory against Hannibal-LaGrange University, as the Owls defeated the Trojans, 65-62.
Tied 61-61 with .25 seconds left, a 3-pointer from
Jerel Wilhite missed, but
Darrien Dickey came up with a big offensive rebound and was fouled on the play.
The Iberia, Missouri, native, stepped up to the line and drained both of his free throws, giving WWU a 63-61 lead. The Owls defense stepped up for the final seconds of the game, while also hitting a couple free throws and they were able to go on for the three point victory.
The Owls (8-13; 5-8 AMC), shot 42.6 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the free throw line in the outing. They were led by
TaiRhe Turner scoring a career-high 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while adding a team-high six boards.
Austin Lowery and Dickey totaled nine points each, while
Derrick Hayes and
DJ Johnson contributed eight points apiece.
HLG (5-14; 5-9 AMC), shot 48.1 percent from the floor and were led by Tony Ardison scoring a career-high 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting off the bench for the Trojans. Daniel Piper added 13 points on 50 percent (5-of-10) shooting, while Joe Reed recorded himself a double-double, having 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
In the first half, it was the Trojans jumped out to an early 22-16 advantage at the 10:29 mark, after Ardison made his two point shot.
The Owls, however, responded with a 6-0 run, capped off by Dickey's two point bucket in the paint, which tied the game up at 22-22 for the fourth time at the 9:15 mark.
Over the next seven minutes, the two teams' would tie four more times, while swapping lead changes four different times as well, but with 2:14 remaining in the half, WWU held a 31-30 lead, after
Klayton Kuschel made his two point shot off an assist from
Ryan Hill.
That, would be the Owls last lead of the half, as HLG closed out on a 4-0 run, capped off by Wyatt Stephens two point put-back basket with .01 seconds left and the Trojans were able to head into the locker room, up 34-31.
The Owls shot 44.8 percent from the field and were led by Johnson's seven points, while Hannibal-LaGrange shot 50.0 percent from the floor.
In the second half, the Trojans went on a 10-6 run over five minutes of play, which allowed them to take a 44-37 lead, after Piper drained a 3-pointer at the 14:30 mark.
HLG continued to hold a small lead over the Owls, who continued to stay within striking distance, as the team drained key buckets when needed. At the 5:30 mark, the Trojans were still up 59-52, but then over the next three minutes, the Owls went on a 7-0 run, capped off by Turner making both of his free throws, which tied the game up at 59-59, for an astounding 10
th time in the game.
Then, on the teams' next possession, Lowery gave the Owls its first lead of the half at 61-59, after making his two point shot. HLG came back just .24 seconds later, as Piper hit his two-pointer in the paint, tying the game up at 61-61, with 1:01 left in the outing.
After Dickey's offensive rebound and going 2-of-2 from the free throw line, the Trojans still had one final chance to tie the game with Jay Jones at the free throw line with .03 seconds left, as they trailed 64-61.
Jones connected on his first free throw and missed the second in hopes of his teammates adding in a tip-in bucket, but Johnson came down with the rebound and he was fouled on the play, which allowed him to go 1-of-2 from the free throw line and solidify the victory for the Owls.
The Owls went 12-of-15 from the free throw line in the second half, while limiting themselves to just six turnovers, which is the lowest amount the team has had this year.
WWU will return to action in front of the home crowd on Saturday afternoon, as they look for its second win in a row against a tough Williams Baptist College team. Tipoff will start at 4 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow afternoon for a full preview of Saturday's game.
