BELLEVILLE, Ill.- Despite three Owl players scoring in double-figures, The William Woods University men's basketball team fell short in the hands of (RV) Lindenwood University-Belleville, 69-66 on Saturday evening.
 
The Owls (4-10; 1-5 AMC) played a hard fought 40:00 minute battle, that came all the way down to a Ryan Hill missed three pointer at the buzzer.
 
In a slow start to the AMC match-up for both teams, the Owls tied the game 7-7 at the 14:56 mark after a Hill field goal. However, that would be the closest WWU would get until the 1:20 mark of the first frame.
 
Freshman Darien Dickey, was a spark off the bench, as he nailed a three-pointer and a crafty reverse lay-up for back-to-back baskets, pulling the Owls to within two points of the Lynx with 7:07 left to play.
 
After trading baskets down the stretch of the first half, Lindenwood-Belleville attempted to go into the half time with the momentum, going on a 6-0 run. However, Derrick Hayes converted in the paint for two points, tying the game up at 30-30 but LU would drain two free throws giving them a 32-30 lead going into the locker room.
 
In the first 20:00 minutes of play the Owls went 12-of-30 (40 percent) from the field, while making 37 percent of their shots from the three point line. Leading the way for WWU was Dickey, who went 3-of-4 from the floor and netted seven points.
 
William Woods held the Lynx shooting 34 percent from the field, which is under the teams' average. The team also confined LU leading scorer, Craig Anderson to just five points in the first half.
 
Coming out of the second half, the Lynx's offense came out more aggressive, going a 8-0 run. Shortly after, LU would jump out to its largest lead of the game, 52-42 at the 10:07 mark.
 
That didn't stop the Owls, as the team started to chip away at Lindenwood-Belleville lead, starting with Nate Bitner's back-to-back three pointers, pushing the score to 52-48.
 
Then at the 4:00 minute mark the Owls would take its first lead of the game, after Bitner's third three pointer of the half, giving WWU the two point lead, 60-58.  Although, the Lynx's would go 5-for-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch and after a William Woods missed three pointer at the buzzer, LU would go on to secure  its third AMC win, 69-66 over the Owls.
 
WWU ended the match-up shooting 43 percent from the floor, a hot 46 percent from beyond the arc and going 9-of-10 from the free throw line, which is the team's best performance on the season.
Hill, the St. Louis, Missouri native, led the way for the Owls going 6-of-10 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, giving him 18 points on the night. Dickey, added 16 points, shooting 63 percent from the floor and making 2-of-2 from the three-point line. Bitner, was the third Owl to score in double digits, recording 11 points on the night, collecting all three of his three pointers in the second half.
 
After a sluggish first half the Lynx's offense ended the night shooting a 45 percent from the field and although the Owls held Lindenwood-Belleville's leading scorer to 12 points, the team didn't have an answer for Noel Allen, as he ended the night with a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.
 
The Owls return to action on Tuesday January 6^th, as the team hosts Harris-Stowe State University for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
 
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com for a full preview of this AMC match-up.

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