FULTON, Mo. – Harris-Stowe State University hit a three-pointer with four seconds left in the second half to force overtime against William Woods University Men's Basketball team on Sunday Afternoon. The Owls outscored the Hornets by nine in overtime to come away with its seventh victory of the season, 71-62.
 
Trey Mitchell led a trio of Owls in double-figures with 19 points in the contest. Coming off the bench, Brandon Vice added 17 points and Jonny Woolf scored 14 to round out the double-figure scorers for the Owls. Klayton Kuschel led the Owls with 11 rebounds in the contest.
 
William Woods returns to action on Saturday, December 10th when they travel to Lawrence, Kansas to face Haskell Indian Nations University. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
 
Game Flow
In a back and forth contest neither team could take advantage and hold each other off. With the Hornets, ahead, 7-4, early, the Owls scored the next three points tying the game at 7-7. After the game was tied, Harris-Stowe scored the next eight points, capped by a Jamaal Hinton jumper putting the Hornets ahead, 15-7.
 
After the Hornets run the Owls answered right back as they went on an 8-0 run tying the game at 15-15 after an Antonio Winn jumper in the paint. WWU looked as if they were going to slowly build a lead and a jumper by Vice in the paint put the Owls head by five, 23-18. EOU continued to add to its lead and with 5:37 left in the first half the Owls grew its lead to 10, 30-20, after a jumper by Mitchell.
 
The lead grew to as many as 11 in the first half, but Harris-Stowe began making its comeback. After a three point by Jalen Fletcher, the Owls lead was down to two, 37-35, with 41 seconds remaining before halftime. The Owls hit one of two from the line taking a three-point lead but Julian Clarkson hit a three at the buzzer tying the game at 38-38 heading to halftime.
 
Harris-Stowe's offense came out fast to open the second half as they took an eight-point lead, 48-40, just four minutes into the second half. WWU continued trimmed the lead back to four, 48-44, after four straight points by Mitchell. However, the Hornets grew the lead back to eight points, 52-44, with 12:01 left in the game after a Michael Gregg jumper in the paint.
 
The Hornets continued to hold onto the lead and match the Owls scoring and with 7:06 left the Owls found themselves down 58-49. William Woods then went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes of action, tying the game at 58-58. During the run the Owls had five points scored by Jonny Woolf and mitched scored the last four.
 
Over the final three minutes of regulation the Owls and Hornets combined to score six points. The Owls scored the first three points, on a jumper and free throw by Vice. Vice's free throw put the Owls ahead by three, with 18 seconds left in the game. The Hornets came down and Gregg hit a three-pointer with eight seconds left, tying the game at 61-61. The Owls had one last shot as Mitchell's three-pointer came up short and the Owls and Hornets were going to overtime.
 
The overtime period belonged to the Owls as they outscored Harris-Stowe 10-1 in the extra five minutes. The Owls defensive pressure held the Hornets to 0-for-9 shooting from the floor. Vice scored the first four points in overtime for the Owls and Klayton Kuschel had dunk to extend the lead to six, 67-61, with 1:34 to go in overtime. Woolf extended the lead to eight, 69-61, with 50 seconds remaining before the Hornets scored. WWU would come away with a 71-62, overtime victory of Harris-Stowe.
 
By the Numbers
10 – WWU scored 10 points in overtime to come away with the win
9 – The Owls outscored the Hornets by nine points in overtime
3 – A trio of Owls scored in double-figures on Sunday
19 – Trey Mitchell led the Owls with 19 points
17 – Brandon Vice came off the bench and scored 17 points
11 – Klayton Kuschel led the Owls with 11 rebounds
20 – WWU hit 20 free throws in the contest
39.3% - William Woods shot 39.3 percent from the floor in the victory
24 – The Owls forced the Owls into 24 turnovers in the contest
7 – The win for the Owls was its seventh victory of the season