BOLIVAR, Mo. – The William Woods University Men's Basketball team was defeated by NCAA Division II Southwest Baptist University, 97-71, in an exhibition contest Monday night at the Meyers Sports Center on the campus of Southwest Baptist University.
 
Trey Mitchell led the Owls with 14 points on the contest on 6-of-11 shooting. Shannon James followed with 12 points and Brandon Vice rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points. Vice, also led the team with 10 rebounds for a double-double.
 
William Woods returns to action on Thursday, December 1st when they host Missouri Baptist University in American Midwest Conference action. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Anderson Arena.
 
Game Flow
The Bearcats came out and scored the first five points of the contest. WWU answered back as a pair of free throws by Brandon Vice and a three pointer by Keith Jackson tied the game at 5-5, two minutes into the contest. After the game was tied at 5-5, the Bearcats came out and scored 10 of the next 14 points taking a 15-9 lead over the Owls.
 
The Owls came back and trimmed the lead down to one, 17-16, after a pair of free throws by Alec Mulvihill. After the lead was cut to one, Southwest Baptist again stretched the lead to 10 points, 28-18, capped by a three-pointer by Louis Baltazar. The SBU lead would stay around double-digits for the rest of the first half and going into halftime the Bearcats led 49-37.
 
The Owls feel behind by 13, 53-39, early in the second half of the contest before a pair of free throws trimmed the lead to 11, 52-41. This would be the closest the Owls would get in the second half of the contest.
 
The Bearcats used an 8-0 run five minutes into the second half to grow its lead to 20 points, 67-47, over the Owls. The Owls trimmed the lead down to 15 points, 67-52, after a three by Mitchell. However, SBU grew the lead back to as many as 24, 84-60, after a 9-0 run midway through the half. WWU could not claw its way back into the contest and were defeated by the Bearcats, 97-71, on Monday evening.  
 
By the Numbers
3 – WWU had three players score in double-figures on Monday night
4 – The Owls hit four three-pointers in the contest
14 – Trey Mitchell led the Owls with 14 points
27 – WWU had 27 bench points in the contest
6 – WWU had six assists in the contest
7 – William Woods recorded seven steals