COLUMBIA, Mo. - On the prime time stage, of being selected for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Network Game of the Week, the No. 25 ranked William Woods University men's basketball team dropped to the No. 2 Columbia College Cougars 74-59. On Saturday afternoon.

In hopes of giving the American Midwest Conference (AMC) front runner its second straight conference loss, the Owls (12-7; 8-3 AMC), came up short for pulling what could have been an impressive upset.

It was a very intense game from the tip-off, as Columbia College came out and scored the games first three points, but then it was the Owls who went on 5-0 run, to jump out to the early 7-2 lead, after a Kevin House three point play and a two point bucket from Trey Mitchell.

Then at the 15:00 minute mark, CC came from behind and tied the game up at 7-7, with a two point basket from Travis Vogt. Shortly after, going point for point for the next five minutes of play, the game was knotted up again but this time at 19-19, as Austin Lowery nailed a three pointer.

However, after House got the Owls within two points of the Cougars (23-21), with a crafty move inside the paint for two points, CC went on a 11-3 run to give them the 34-25 advantage with 3:27 left to play in the first half. The Cougars continued to gain momentum offensively as Jackson Dubinski hit two big three pointers, with time winding down in the first 20:00 minutes of play, helping the Cougars hold onto a 12 point lead, heading into the locker with the 43-31 advantage.

At the break, William Woods was 11-of-31 from the field, 3-of-10 from three point line and just converted on 54.5 percent of its attempts at the free throw line. Meanwhile, CC shot 37.8 percent from the field and was 10-of-14 from the charity stripe.

Coming out of half time, the Owls knew they needed to get an offensive spark in order to escape Southwell Complex with the huge victory, but that was not in the cards for WWU, as the Cougars extended its lead out to the largest of the night at 19, making the score 58-39 at the 12:26 mark.

Although, the Owls were not going down without a fight, as the team showed its relentless by crawling back and cutting the Cougars lead down to 10, with less than five minutes to play in regulation, after Bryan DeGeare went 2-for-2 from the free throw line, putting the score at 66-56.

Despite the Owls valiant effort, CC went on to end the day with a 8-3 run, which secured the 74-59 victory over the Owls.

William Woods ended the day shooting 34.4 percent from the field and holding the Cougars to 36.2 percent shooting, However, the Owls were just 11-of-23 from the charity stripe and shot just 23.5 percent from the beyond the arc, which arguably, could have made a huge impact. The Cougars closed out going 10-of-29 from downtown, while shooting 70.0 percent from the free throw line.

House, led the way for WWU, as the senior posted a game-high 19 points, on 7-of-12 shooting and collected nine rebounds, while DJ Johnson added 13 points. Trey Mitchell chipped in eight points and DeGeare added six points.

The Cougars had three players finish in double digits, as Zach Rockers complied 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Dubinski added 15 points, where 12 of his points came from beyond the arc and Nic Reynolds ended with 11 points.

"I am proud of how we came out of the gate and started well tonight," said head coach Nick Totta. " Although we didn't sustain it, I believe we defended well enough to win."

Totta added, I thought it was encouraging that even though we didn't have a good night shooting the ball ,we defended well and took care of the ball."

Totta also expressed, "With the second round of AMC play nearing, every game is a battle and we can't take nights off, need to maintain high energy and effort."

The Owls look to get back to its winning ways with the start of the second round of play in the AMC, as the team pays Lyon College a visit next Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.