FULTON, Mo.—In an outing where a combined 45 fouls were called, the William Woods University men's basketball team was able to fend off the Central Baptist College Mustangs and stay perfect in American Midwest Conference (AMC) play, winning, 99-85.

"A 14-point win is a little deceiving, as that was a nip-and-tuck game, but we did make plays down the stretch and rebounded better," said head coach Nick Totta. "Central Baptist is a good team though and they are going to be fine in the AMC."

The Owls (3-3; 2-0 AMC), shot 48.3 percent from the floor, 41.2 percent from downtown and 70.8 percent from the charity-stripe.

Leading the way individually for WWU was senior Kevin House, who posted a season-high 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while adding seven boards and a game-high eight assists.

Austin Lowery had another strong game off the bench, as he netted 18 points, while going a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Deon Pettigrew, got to the line an astounding 20 times, converting 13, and went 2-of-6 from the field, to finish with 17 points and eight boards. Bryan DeGeare, also tied Pettigrew with eight rebounds, while draining 15 points.

"I thought Austin played really well," said Totta. "His and Kevin's basketball IQ is off the charts, as they see the floor well and know how to play the game. Austin made some really good plays where we needed to stay ahead."

He added, "Deon did some good things too, getting to the line 20 times, and rebounded well."

Central Baptist (3-2; 0-2 AMC), were held to a field goal percentage of 38.6 percent, but were led by leading scorer Fred Albright, who finished with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Jordan Wilson added a double-double off the bench, concluding with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Justin Harris, was the final Mustang in double-figures, as he ended with 15 points and nine rebounds.

"People might look at the score and say you gave up 80 points, but that was a high possession game," said Totta. "What you want to look at is how many points per possession you are scoring and I think we held them down .08 and .085."

It was a back-and-forth outing through the first half, but a DeGeare two-pointer, but the Owls ahead at 14-12, with 13:35 remaining.

The two teams' would continue to battle and meet up tied for the seventh time already at the 8:07 mark, after Lowery made his basket, off an assist from House, to make it a 21-all outing.

The Owls would gain some breathing room with just under four minutes left, as Trey Mitchell drained a 3-pointer, which put the scoreboard at 35-31. The Mustangs, however, would recover and tie the score up for the 10^th time, at 37-37, after Harris made his second chance two-pointer.

William Woods, however, would close out the final two minutes of play on a 5-2 run, which allowed them to head into the break, ahead 42-39.

WWU shot 37.1 percent from the floor and 80.0 percent from the line. House, led the way with 10 points and four assists, while DeGeare added five rebounds. CBC, fared better, shooting 43.6 percent from the field, while Wilson was the leader with eight points and seven boards.

In the second half, after DeGeare went 1-of-2 from the line, the score was tied up at 50-all for the 13^th time. After trading continuous baskets, the Owls would regain the lead at 57-55, after Mitchell hit another 3-pointer at the 14:29 mark.

The team then scored the next six points over the next two minutes, capped off by Darrien Dickey's second chance bucket, which extended the Owls advantage out to 63-55.

The Mustangs though battled back and would tie the game up at 68-all, at the 10:31 mark, as Albright scored in the paint. WWU, would get its lead back to five (73-68), less than a minute later, with House hitting a 3-pointer, but a 6-0 run by CBC, but them ahead at 74-73, after Jayln McBride's 3-pointer.

Dickey, would give the Owls its lead back on the next possession, and from then on, WWU was able to maintain its marginal lead, but gained some breathing room with 1:46 left, as Pettigrew's two-pointer, but the team ahead 91-85.

The Owls, who got to the free throw line 33 times in the second half alone, would make them count as the clock continued to tick down, as they were able to fend off the Mustangs and secure its 14-point win.

The Owls got to the line as season-high 48 times and were able to hit 34 of them, which was also a season-high for the squad.

The team will now jump out of conference play next week, as they host Missouri Valley College on Tuesday, November 24^th. Tip-off will start at 7:30 p.m. inside Anderson Arena.

Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com on Monday for a full preview of its game against the Vikings.

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