ST. LOUIS, Mo.- The William Woods University men's basketball team dropped its regular season finale against Missouri Baptist University, falling 80-68 (OT) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Owls (11-19; 8-14AMC), played a strong game against the Spartans, however couldn't hold onto the lead down the stretch of the final minutes of regulation, taking the AMC regular season match-up into overtime, where the Owls struggled from the field, getting outscored 16-4 in overtime.
 
WWU jumped out to an early 8-4 lead after a fast break lay-up from Alec Mulvihill at the 16:06 mark. Although, MBU responded by hitting back-to-back field goals to tie the game up at 8-8. After trading bucket for bucket for the next couple possessions, in a back and forth first frame, Jarett Boss would tie the game for the seventh time (20-20) with 7:42 minutes left in the half.
 
Then off a Missouri Baptist turnover, Darrien Dickey would convert it into a two point field goal equalizing the game at 27-27 with less than a minute left till half time, however, the Spartans would grab an offensive rebound and put back to go up by two, 29-27. Jerel Wilhite would get fouled right before the buzzer, making one of his two free throws to make it a one point advantage (29-28) for the Spartans heading into the locker room.
 
In the first half, the Owls shot a 45.8 percent from the field and went 6-of-9 from the free throw line, while holding MBU to 36.4 percent shooting. Mulvihill led the way for WWU, netting eights points.
 
Coming out in the second half, it was still anyone's game as both teams were not giving up. The Owls would push the score 46-41 at the 12:04 mark, after a DJ Johnson field goal, which was the largest lead of the night from either team. Shortly after, the Spartans would claw back and tie the game for the eleventh time, 50-50 but the Owls would stay composed and put together a 6-0 run, to regain the lead 56-50 with 6:11 left to play.
 
Missouri Baptist, however wasn't going down with a fight, after hitting a couple big field goal, the Spartans were within three of the Owls, 62-59 with less than a minute to play. MBU would put full court pressure on WWU and foul to stop the clock, with seconds winding down the Owls could hit only 4-of-8 of its free throws down the stretch, giving the Spartans a chance for the victory.
 
Then with two Owl defenders in front of him and only .18 seconds on the clock, Missouri Baptist Bryce Weibrecht hit a clutch three pointer, tying the game at 64-64 and we were headed into overtime in St, Louis. 
 
In the 5:00 minutes of overtime, the Owls struggled from the floor, only scoring four points, while the Spartans came out on a 7-0 run, turning the momentum in their favor, as MBU went on hit the necessary free throws to secure the 80-68 victory.
The Owls ended the game shooting 40.3 percent from the field, although going 15-of-27 from the charity stripe. Johnson, paced the way for WWU totaling 16 points and nine rebounds, Mulivhill chipped in 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while Nate Bitner ended the night in a dominating fashion playing a career-high 42:00 minutes, posting 14 points, five rebounds and five steals.
 
Despite falling to Missouri Baptist, the Owls still locked the eighth seed in the AMC standings, which means the team will host its second AMC Tournament game in programs history on Tuesday against the ninth seed Hannibal-LaGrange. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
 
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com for a full preview of this first round of the AMC tournament match-up.

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