written by Sports Information worker Izayah Donnelly

Fulton, Mo. - The No. 25 ranked William Woods University men's basketball team were in hopes to capture its 15^th win on the season, which would have been a new program record but came up short, falling 88-86 to Missouri Baptist University in heart breaking fashion.

The Owls (14-8; 10-4 AMC), who were coming off a two game winning streak, took an unexpected loss in a tight matchup against the Spartans, equalizing the season series.

The Owls, came out sluggish allowing the Spartans to gain a 16-6 lead within the first four minutes of play. MBU came out on fire, shooting an efficient 65.0 percent from the field. A quick time out called by Owls coach Nick Totta quickly turned things around for WWU, as the team responded by cutting the Spartans lead down to two with 10:00 minutes remaining in the first half of play. Two back-to-back buckets from Trey Mitchell started the Owls run, as Mitchell shoot an exceptional 50.0 percent from the field going 5-of -10.

Spartans had three players in double digits, as strong, powerful play from forward John Caraballo lead him to an outstanding 8-of-9 shooting from the field ending the night with 17 points.

However, things really started to shift for the Spartans as Jared White started to heat up, hitting an impressive six three pointers, he would come up big for the Spartans contributing 21 easy buckets.

The Owls came out ready to play the second half shooting 75.3 percent from the field. Big bench points from Owls forward Keith Jackson would be important as the Owls seemed to be drifting away from the Spartans.

Most of the second half was a back and forth contest, while each team responding point for point. Senior guard, Kevin House also played big for the Owls as he started to dish out nice passes creating scoring opportunities for the WWU.

With time winding down, the game started to get more intense. A game clinching move by House put the Owls up two (86-84) with .45 seconds left in the regular play. Instantly this would make the Spartans have to foul. With .10 seconds left Owls guard Austin Lowery would be sent to the line where he couldn't connect, opening the door for the fighting Spartans.

As the ball came back into play, .03 seconds remained on the clock, as Spartans guard Chris Buzzell drained a three-point basket at the top of the key, putting the Spartans up 88-86. Without any time left on the clock the Owls would drop just its fourth American Midwest Conference (AMC) loss of the season, in a hard fought 88-86 battle to the Spartans

William Woods had five players in double digits on the night. High point man, Deon Pettigrew led the Owls with 16 points, while Kevin House followed with 15 points and handed out seven assists. Followed by Trey Mitchell contributing 10 points, as both coming off the bench, DJ Johnson and Keith Jackson, scoring 14 points and 11 points, respectively

The Owls continue conference play Saturday, as the team takes on Harris-Stowe State University inside Anderson Arena. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m.