FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods University men's basketball team will look to snap its two-game skid on Thursday night, as the Owls host Williams Baptist College. Tip-off starts at 7:30 p.m.
The Owls (10-6; 6-2 AMC), are coming off a tough 96-91 defeat in its last time out against Lindenwood University-Belleville. The team shot 46.6 percent from the floor and were led by
Kevin House's near triple-double, as the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, native, netted a career-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while tying his season-high in assists (nine) and rebounds (eight).
Austin Lowery, a St. Charles, Missouri, native, totaled 19 points off the bench, including going 5-of-8 from downtown, while
Trey Mitchell added a season-high 15 points and eight rebounds.
TaiRhe Turner, also reached the double-figure plateau, having 12 points, while
DJ Johnson netted 11.
In the last five games (3-2), the Owls offense has been rolling, posting 84.6 points, while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and owning a rebounding advantage of 217-179.
Johnson, has led the offense, averaging 14.0 points, while hitting 58.2 percent of his shots from the floor and is second on the team with 36 rebounds. Lowery, is putting up 12.6 points, and has earned a field goal percentage of 46.5. He also continues to be a threat from beyond-the-arc, as he has hit 16 of his last 31 attempts.
Deon Pettigrew, a Tampa, Florida, native, has been averaging 11.2 points in the last five outings, while in the previous two games, House is scoring 18.0 points and shooting over 57.0 percent from the field and downtown.
On the season, the Owls are scoring 82.9 points and have been led by Pettigrew's 15.1 points, 110 rebounds and 20 steals. Lowery, has upped his season average to 13.3 points, while shooting 46.1 percent from the floor, 44.8 percent from downtown and 84.3 percent from the charity-stripe.
House, meanwhile, is scoring 13.2 points and shooting a team-high 50.0 percent from the floor. The guard also is hitting 81.7 percent of his shots from the field and has dished out a team-high 79 assists, which ranks him ninth in the NAIA. Johnson, in his nine games played, owns a field goal percentage of 57.5, which has allowed his
season average to climb up to 11.4.
As a team, they continue to be ranked nationally in the top-25 in multiple categories, including, fourth in assists (294), fifth in assists per game (18.37), sixth in 3-pointers made (143), seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.38), seventh in total blocks (65), seventh in scoring offense (1,327), 13
th in total offensive rebounds (635), 13
th in 3-point field
goal percentage (38.6), 16
th in blocks per game (4.06) and 16
th in 3-point field goals made per game (8.93).
WBC (5-4; 3-3 AMC), will enter Anderson Arena with a lot of momentum, as they won its biggest game of the year by far on Tuesday, defeating No. 3-ranked Freed-Hardeman University, 103-91.
The team was on fire all night from the floor, having a field goal percentage of 54.1 and were led by Braxton Gillespie's game-high 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting. He also went 3-of-6 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line.
E.J. Rucker, totaled 15 points, while Reece Dunlap and Tevin Howard contributed 14 points each. Aaron Hamby, added 10 points and Stanley Malcom just missed a triple-double as well, having eight points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
On the year, the Eagles, are scoring 79.0 points and are led by Rucker's 15.0 points and 53.6 field goal percentage. Tony Jeffries is second on the team with a 13.2 season average, while Gillespie's performance against the Lions, moved his average up to 11.8. Malcom, is the fourth Eagle player to average double-figures, as he is posting up
10.1 points per game.
WBC's defense will be something to watch on Thursday, as they have forced 179 turnovers on the year. They rank No. 1 nationally in turnover margin (6.33) and steals per game (10.88).
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Anderson Arena.
