Story written by Sports Information student worker Linley Stockman

FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods University men's basketball team won its third consecutive game on Tuesday night, as the Owls defeated Missouri Valley College, 85-79.

"I'm proud that we were able to pull it out tonight," said head coach Nick Totta. "Teams that are going to be good, still need to mesh together if going to find ways to get a win and we did that. I think we got to make some better decisions down the stretch, but early in the year its hard to practice though situations sometimes."

The Owls (4-3; 2-0 AMC), shot 44.1 percent from the floor, 45.2 percent from downtown and 64.7 percent from the free throw line. The team was on fire from beyond-the-arc, totaling a season-high 14 3-pointers, nine of which came in the first half.

Junior Deon Pettigrew, a Tampa, Florida, native, led the way on the night, finishing with a season-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including going 4-of-5 from downtown.

For the third consecutive game, senior Austin Lowery reached double-figures, as against the Vikings (1-4; 0-2 HAAC), Lowery totaled a career-high 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting. He also went 4-of-9 from downtown and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

"They both shot the ball pretty well tonight," said Totta. "Austin's one of those guys that's been in the program, stuck with it and he continued to work at it, which is paying off. He has a really high basketball IQ and is more athletic than he looks, as he had a great tip in shot tonight."

He added, "Deon is working harder, shot it down from three tonight and his effort was better overall. When you talk to him about something, he's going to go apply it and I thought he did that tonight."

Patrick Lewis totaled seven off the bench, while Bryan DeGeare, Kevin House, Klayton Kuschel and Trey Mitchell each contributed six points. House, continued to add onto his assist total, as he distributed a game-high eight on the evening.

Missouri Valley, shot 45.2 percent from the floor, 58.8 percent from downtown and 72.2 percent from the charity-stripe.

Raviel Burton led the Vikings, as he netted a team-high 26 points on 11-of-24 shooting, while adding a game-high 13 rebounds. Leading scorer Brody Gronewold totaled 17 points, while Laquin Turner added 10 off the bench.

The game didn't start the way William Woods would have liked, as Missouri Valley came out shooting in the first six minutes of action, which allowed them to take an 18-8 lead.

After a 3-pointer from Darryl Lemear at the 8:10 mark, the Vikings were up 29-18 over the Owls and offensively they were not missing a beat.

Then, over the next four minutes of action, the Owls got its offense going, as they went on a 10-0 run, capped off by a House two-pointer, which put the team down just 29-28, with 4:37 remaining. After another 3-pointer from Gronewold, to take 32-28 lead, the Owls went on a 4-0 run, capped off by Mitchell's 3-pointer of his own, which gave WWU a 34-32 advantage and forced the Vikings to take a timeout.

Burton would tie the game with a bucket in the paint with a little over two minutes remaining, but William Woods would close out on a 6-0 run, with Lowery sending the team into the locker room happy, as he hit a 3-pointer from the corner as the horn sounded, which gave the Owls a 40-34 lead.

WWU shot 46.9 percent in the first half, with Lowery leading the way with 11 points. MVC, however, shot 44.4 percent and Gronewold also added 11 points.

In the second half, the Owls would stretch its lead out to 50-42, after Lowery hit a 3-pointer at the 14:32 mark. The team would continue to hold its marginal lead, until with 8:07 left, the Vikings would tie the score up at 61-all, after Jake Fletcher scored off a turnover.

That tie, however, was short-lived, as Lewis netted his 3-pointer, off an assist from DeGeare, which gave the Owls its advantage back at 64-61. Over the next three minutes, WWU would continue to battle, but the Vikings would earn the lead back at 68-67, with 5:28 remaining, after Turner drained a 3-pointer.

The Owls, at the 4:14 mark, would retake the lead at 71-70, after Pettigrew scored in the paint, off an assist from Mitchell. It was all William Woods from then on, as they were able to fend off the Vikings and secure the six point victory.

The team will now take a couple days of rest, before hitting the court in an exhibition match-up against Division I Missouri State University on Friday afternoon. Tip-off will start at 2:05 p.m., with the game being shown on ESPN3.

Fans make sure to stay updated on Thursday afternoon for a full preview of its outing against the Bears.

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