ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The William Woods University men's basketball team will look to get back to its winning ways on Thursday night, as the team pays a visit to St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
 
Last night the Owls(9-17; 6-12 AMC) fell to Harris Stowe State University 76-67, as the team still is sitting in the eighth place in the American Midwest Conference standings, with just one week left to play in the regular season.
 
After trading baskets in the first half, the Hornets would take its first lead of the first half, pushing it up to six, 29-23 with 7:04 left in the half. Then after, a Nate Bitner blocked shot and a Austin Lowery two point field goal, sparked a 9-4 run for the Owls, to regain the lead and put WWU up by one, 35-34 at the 2:40 mark.
 
Harris-Stowe would finish the first half, heading into the locker room with a one point advantage, 41-40 over the Owls, as the Hornets closed the half shooting over a blistering 50 percent from both the field and three point line.
 
The Owls ended the first frame shooting just under 50 percent from the floor (48.5) and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc, Hayes led the way for WWU, netting 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Bitner added 10 points.
 
William Woods came out in the second have more aggressively offensively, as the team took a quick 46-42 lead, then at the 13:57 mark the team would extend its lead to 48-42, forcing the Hornets to call a timeout. HSSU, however responded by coming out of the timeout and knocked down back-to-back three pointers, to take back the lead again 51-50.
 
Despite the valiant effort, that would be as close as the Owls would get, as HSSU hit its free throws down the stretch to go on to secure the 76-67 victory over William Woods.
 
WWU closed the game, shooting 45.2 percent (28-of-62) and 30.8 percent from the three point line. There were four Owl players to reach double-figures on the night, Bitner paced the way, totaling 15 points and going 5-of-13 from the field, as Hayes ended the night right behind Bitner, netting 13 points. Ryan Hill collected 11 points, on 4-of-7 shooting and DJ Johnson chipped in 10 points, while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
 
On the season, Johnson and Hill pace the way offensively for the Owls, as both are averaging 10 points per game, while Johnson also leads the team in rebounds (5.2 per game) and blocks (15). Bitner has pushed his average to 9.5 points per game, as the senior is shooting a 31.4 percent from the three point line.
 
The last meeting between these two teams earlier this season, the Owls cruised by the Eutectics 78-50, as four Owl players finished the night in double digits and shooting over 40 percent as a team from both the field and three point line.  The Owls also shot a team high 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the free-throw line, outscoring SLCP 40-24 just in the second half.
The Eutectics are currently 1-18 on the season and still looking for its first AMC win on the year. The team is coming off a 78-53 defeat against Missouri Baptist University last night.
 
Offensively, Gozie Uzendu leads the way for SLCP, averaging 14.0 points per game, shooting 43.7 percent from the field and has scored in double-figures every game this season except three. The forward, also leads the team in rebounds, recording nine per game.
 
Two other key players the Owls will have to keep eye on are Clayton Earhart and Kyle Jones, as both guards are posting 11 points per game on the season.
 
The Owls are in hopes of the season series sweep and its 10^th win on the season on Thursday night.
 
Fans check back on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from St. Louis, Missouri.
 
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