FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods University men's basketball team picked up its first American Midwest Conference (AMC) victory in impressive style on Thursday night, as the Owls defeated Lyon College, 73-47.
"We made some progress tonight in meshing and blending together," said head coach
Nick Totta. "I thought we did a really nice job of going longer in the offense, making the extra pass and playing more together. I think previously, guys were trying to do it all themselves, but now we are starting to gain that trust in each other."
The Owls (2-3; 1-0 AMC), shot a season-high 50.0 percent from the floor and went 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from downtown.
Individually, leading the way was
Austin Lowery, who came off the bench and netted a season-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including going 5-of-6 from beyond-the-arc.
"Austin is just a good shooter, so it was nice seeing him have the game that he is capable of doing."
Bryan DeGeare, netted 11 points, to go along with his game-high nine boards and three blocks.
Deon Pettigrew contributed nine points, while
Kevin House added eight and a game-high five assists.
The Scots (2-2; 0-1 AMC), meanwhile, couldn't get much going against the Owls defense, which held them to a mere 29.6 field goal percentage and blocked nine of the Scots shots.
"We really executed our game plan, as I thought there were very few breakdowns defensively," said Totta. "I thought we did a pretty good job of putting pressure on and making them work, but I still think we can do better on the glass."
Leading scorer Riley Jenkins had another strong outing for the team, as he posted a game-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
After a two-pointer from
Klayton Kuschel at the 12:48 mark, the Owls were ahead 10-9 and from there they were able to break the game open.
WWU, over the next three minutes, went on a 7-0 run, capped off by
Darrien Dickey making his two point shot in the paint, which extended the teams' advantage out to 17-9.
The Owls pushed its advantage out further at the 6:02 mark, after Lowery drained a 3-pointer, which put the scoreboard at 25-13.
The team was able to maintain its double-digit advantage the rest of the half, as a late bucket by Pettigrew off a turnover, gave the Owls an impressive 37-21 lead, heading into the break.
WWU, shot 50.0 percent from the floor and were led by Lowery having 13 points, while
TaiRhe Turner led the way with four boards. Lyon College, had eight turnovers and struggled from the floor through the first 20:00 minutes of play, as they shot 26.9 percent.
In the second half, Jenkins cut the Owls lead down to 11 (50-39), with 10:49 remaining, after he made his two point shot. WWU, however, responded with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, with Lowery hitting another 3-pointer, off an assist from House, which extended the WWU lead up to 19 points (58-39).
The team would continue to build its lead as the clock continued to tick down and with DeGeare going 1-of-2 from the line with 1:28 left, the Owls had its largest lead of the game at 73-47. The Owls held the Scots scoreless the final minute of play and were able to secure its 26-point win.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Owls, as they will host AMC newcomer Central Baptist College on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off will start at 4 p.m. inside Anderson Arena.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow afternoon for a full preview of its game against the Mustangs.
