RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The William Woods University men's basketball was defeated by NCAA Division II Arkansas Tech, 78-74, in an exhibition contest on Wednesday evening at Tucker Coliseum.
 
Trey Mitchell led a trio of scores in double-figures. Mitchell scored 22 points, including hitting four three-pointers in the contest. Brandon Vice followed with 17 points, on 8-of-14 shooting. Torin Washington followed with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Owls. William Woods shot 46.9 percent from the floor.
 
The Owls return to action on Thursday, December 29th when they host St. Louis College of Pharmacy at Anderson Arena. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
 
Game Flow
Early in the first half a layup by Trey Mitchell gave the Owls a one point lead, 4-3, however, the lead did not last long for the Owls as the Wonder Boys hit back-to-back three-pointers taking a 9-4, lead over the Owls. The next trip down Alec Mulvihill hit a jumper putting the Owls down three.
 
After Mulvihill's jumper the Owls went two minutes without scoring. Darrien Dickey broke the scoreless drought for the Owls with a jumper butting the Owls down by one, 9-8. After Dickey's jumper the Owls went cold again as they went three minutes without a field goal and again Dickey broke the streak with a layup.
 
Arkansas Tech built a lead up to five points before the Owls responded and a jumper by Brandon Vice put the Owls ahead 18-17 with 7:54 left in the first half. The teams traded leads and a three-pointer by Vice put the Owls ahead 28-27 with 2:43 to go in the half. The Owls grew the lead to three, 30-27, before the Wonder Boy's hit a pair of free throws to trim the Owls lead down to one, 30-29. WWU took the one point lead into halftime.
 
William Woods came out of the locker room at halftime on fire, as they outscored the Wonder Boy's 9-1 over the first two and a half minutes of the contest. With the Owls leading 39-30 Mason Cline hit a three but Mitchell went to the other end and matched it putting the Owls back on top by nine, 42-33.
 
Trailing by nine, 42-33, Arkansas Tech heated up while the Owls cooled off on its shooting. The Wonder Boys went on a 13-2 run against the Owls that saw WWU to lose its lead and the Wonder Boys held a five-point lead, 49-44, after a dunk by Bennie Lufile.
 
WWU found itself down by ten points midway through the second half prior to the Owls slowly started coming back. After a pair of free throws by Mitchell the Owls had the lead down to four points, 56-52. The lead would remain around four points over the next seven minutes of the contest. Alex Brown hit a three for Arkansas Tech putting the Wonder Boys ahead by eight, 72-64.
 
The lead grew to 10 points before the Owls chipped away at the lead as a three by Jonny Woolf put the Owls down by seven, 74-67. Later in the Owls had the lead down to five, 76-71, after a Washington layup. However the Owls were running out of time as after Washington's layup there was only 32 seconds remaining. WWU forced a turnover and Mitchell hit a three, putting the Owls down two, 76-74, with 20 seconds to go. That would be as close as they Owls would get as Vice had a shot to tie the game but his shot got blocked and Freddy Lee hit a pair of free throws clinching the win, 78-74, for the Wonder Boys.
 
By the Numbers
3 – WWU had three players score in double-figures
22 – Trey Mitchell led the Owls with 22 points in the contest
9 – Torin Washington led the Owls with nine rebounds
8 – The Owls hit eight three-pointers in the contest
13 – William Woods had 13 assists in the contest
21 – WWU committed 21 turnovers against Arkansas Tech