FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University men's basketball team closed out the 2016 year with an impressive 85-79 victory over No. 12 Park University on Saturday afternoon at Anderson Arena in the American Midwest Conference Game of the Week. The win for the Owls is its seventh straight victory.
 
Trey Mitchell led the Owls with 18 points, while Brandon Vice followed with 17 points. Shannon James and Torin Washington rounded out the double-figure scorers with 16 and 12 points, respectfully. Vice led the Owls with nine rebounds in the contest. WWU shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the win.  
 
WWU returns to action on Tuesday, January 3rd when they take on Lindenwood University-Belleville in American Midwest Conference action. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Anderson Arena.
 
Game Flow
In a back and forth first half the Owls and Pirates traded leads early in the contest as Vice got the Owls onto the scoreboard with a jumper and the Pirates answered right back with a jumper by Xavielle Brown. The lead traded hands four times and had one tie over the first four minutes of the contest and after a Brown three-pointer, the Owls trailed Park, 10-7.
 
Brown's three sparked the Pirates, who went on a 10-0 run over the Owls over the next minute and half taking a 17-7 lead over the Owls. Shannon James made the Owls next shot trimming the lead down to 17-9. WWU continued to battle and a jumper by Torin Washington put the Owls down six, 19-13, with 12:05 left in the first half.
 
WWU continued to battle and another jumper by Washington put the Owls down two, 21-19. Park Grew its lead back to seven points, 26-19, after a jumper by Brown. Park continued to lead and held a three-point lead, 30-27, with 4:50 left in the first half. The Owls closed out the last 4:50 of the first half on a 10-3 run taking a 37-33 lead into halftime.
 
Park answered back early in the second half as the two threes by Brown and BJ Watson tied the game at 39-39. After Park tied the game, WWU scored the next seven points, capped by a three-pointer by Jonny Woolf. The Owls lead continued to grow to nine points, 50-41, after a Mitchell field goal.
 
The Pirates continued to battle and tried to mount a comeback and they trimmed the lead down to five points, but the Owls responded with four points by Washington and grew the lead back to 10 points, 59-49. With the Owls ahead by ten, Park came back and cut the Owls lead down to three points, 61-58, after a jumper by Josh Rutland with 8:40 left in the contest.
 
The Owls and Pirates continued to trade blows and a jumper by Watson put the Pirates down three, 66-63, with 7:31 left in the contest. Over the next three minutes, WWU picked up the defense and grew its lead back to 11 points, 76-65.
 
With the Owls ahead by 11, 79-68, the Pirates made one last run at the Owls. Brown hit a three-pointer with 48 seconds remaining in the contest, cutting the Owls lead down to six points, 81-75. WWU would go four-for-four on free throws down the stretch to earn its seventh straight win. WWU defeated Park, 85-78, in the AMC Game of the Week.
 
By the Numbers
4 – WWU had four players score in double-figures in the victory
4 – The Owls claimed its fourth victory over Park in WWU Men's Basketball Program history
18 – Trey Mitchell led the Owls with 18 points in the contest
17 – Brandon Vice scored 17 points to follow Trey
9 – Vice collected a game-high nine rebounds for the Owls
19 – WWU had 19 assists in the victory
40 – The Owls bench scored 40 points in the victory
51.9 – William Woods shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the contest