FULTON, Mo. - The William Woods University men's basketball team could not stay with No. 12 Columbia College on Saturday at Anderson Arena. The Cougars outscored the Owls, 41-28, in the second half to pull away and defeat William Woods, 89-64.

Game Flow
The Owls and Cougars came out answering each other's punches in the first 10 minutes of the contest. With Columbia ahead 10-9, senior DJ Johnson put the Owls on top, 13-10, after scoring four straight points. The lead did not last long as Columbia answered with a three pointer from Nathan Biggs tying the game at 13-13.

After the Cougars tied the game up at 13-13, the Owls answered by going on a 8-2 run, that was capped off by a Trey Mitchell three pointer putting the Owls ahead 21-15, with 11:36 left in the first half. Columbia answered right back by going on an 8-0 run taking a two point lead, 23-21.

With the game tied at 25-25, the Cougars started pulling away from the Owls, as they went on an 11-1 run taking a 10 point lead, 36-26, with six minutes before halftime. William Woods cut the lead down to five points late in the first half but the Cougars pulled away taking a 12 point lead, 48-36, into halftime.

Columbia came out on fire in the second half as they only made their first four shots and build its lead to 17 points, 57-40. Columbia continued to extend its lead as the Owls offense struggled to make a basket. After a Travis Vogt three pointer the Cougars led 65-44, with 13:57 left in the contest.

The Owls continued to battle and a three-point play by Kevin House put WWU down 65-49, which would be the closest the Owls would get for the remainder of the contest. Trailing by 20, 69-49, Bryan DeGeare made a three point play putting the Owls down 17, 69-62. After DeGeare's field goal the Owls went four minutes without a field goal.

Columbia continued to add to its lead and grew the lead to 29 points, 83-54, with six minutes to go in the contest. WWU had no answer and were defeated 89-64.

By the Numbers
37 - The Owls shot 37 percent from the field in the contest
32 - WWU scored 32 points in the paint
2-of-15 - William Woods struggled shooting the three point shot tonight as they were 2-of-15 shooting from behind the arc.
19 - Trey Mitchell led the way for the Owls with 19 points
17 - The bench came in and scored 17 points for the Owls
3 - WWU had three players score in double-figures in the contest

Upcoming
The Owls return to action next Wednesday, March 2 when they travel to Missouri Baptist University for the AMC Quarterfinals. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.