FULTON, Mo.—The (RV) William Woods University men's basketball team will look to stay perfect in American Midwest Conference (AMC) play on Thursday night, as the Owls host Hannibal-LaGrange University. Tip-off starts at 7:30 p.m., with admission to the game being free.
The Owls (8-4; 4-0 AMC), are coming off an 87-84 thrilling victory over Missouri Valley College in its last time out.
After leading throughout the second half, the Vikings stormed back and took an 84-83 lead with .47 seconds left, which forced WWU to take a timeout.
TaiRhe Turner, who subbed in after the timeout, came up huge for the Owls, as he made his two-pointer in the paint, off an assist from
Kevin House, to give WWU an 85-84 lead, with .17 seconds remaining.
After a missed 3-pointer from MVC, senior
Austin Lowery put the game away, as he made both of his free throw attempts, which secured the three-point win for the Owls.
The Owls had four players in double-figures and were led by Lowery's 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 from downtown.
DJ Johnson, who made his first start on the year, put up 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while House had another strong game, having 15 points as well.
Turner, meanwhile, finished with a season-high 10 points off the bench, to go along with his five boards and three assists.
With the win, the team has now won seven of its last eight games, with its only blemish coming against Haskell Indian Nations, which snapped the teams' program record six game winning streak.
In the last eight games, WWU, is averaging 85.1 points, while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 43.5 percent from beyond-the-arc.
Deon Pettigrew, a Tampa, Florida, native, has been leading the offense with a 17.9 point per game average, while shooting 48.8 percent from the floor, 41.7 percent from three and leads the team with 57 boards.
Lowery, a St. Charles, Missouri, native, continues to be threat off the bench, owning a 17.0 point per game average, while leading the team in three-point percentage (47.8), free throw percentage (92.3) and steals (10). House, is averaging 11.6 points, shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and downtown, while leading the Owls with 44 assists.
On the season, WWU, is averaging 82.6 points and are led by Pettigrew's 16.2 average. Lowery is averaging 14.3 points in 12 games, while House and
Bryan DeGeare are putting up 12.6 and 11.4 points per game respectively.
House ranks sixth in the nation with 70 assists and 5.83 assists per game, while Lowery's 87.2 free throw percentage, puts him 14
th overall.
As a team, WWU, ranks seventh in blocks (53), ninth in 3-pointers made (109), 10
th in assists (213), 11
th in assists per game (17.7), blocks per game (4.41), assist/turnover ratio (1.33), 12
th in 3-pointers made per game (9.08), 3-point field goal percentage (38.4) and 19
th in free throw percentage (71.8).
HLGU (3-5; 2-2 AMC), meanwhile, are looking to drop its three game skid, as they have fallen to the likes of No. 3 Freed-Hardeman (106-76), Culver-Stockton College (75-63) and No. 5 Columbia College (69-44).
On the season, the Trojans are averaging 73.8 points and are shooting 45.6 percent from the floor. Defensively, they are allowing 75.3 points, but are being outrebounded 316-246.
D'Avonte Garland, has put up double-figures in seven games thus far, which has upped his season average to 16.6 points per game. He is also shooting 54.4 percent from the floor, 45.5 percent from three and 75.0 percent from the charity-stripe.
De'Shawn Terrell, is second on the team with a 14.3 average and leads the Trojans with 11 steals, while Demetrius Early and Tim Pace, are scoring 10.7 and 10.6 points respectively.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Anderson Arena.
