WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. – After trailing at halftime by one point, the William Woods University men's basketball team used a strong second half, as they outscored Williams Baptist College by 20 points in the second half, en route to a 82-63 victory on Thursday evening in American Midwest Conference action.
 
Five Owls scored in double-figures for the contest led by Torin Washington, who scored 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Washington also led the Owls with 12 rebounds in the contest, for a double-double. Jonny Woolf followed Washington with 15 points. Trey Mitchell followed with 14 points. Shannon James and Deon Pettigrew followed with 12 points and 10 points, respectfully.
 
William Woods returns to action on Saturday, January 7th when they play at Freed-Hardeman University. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls offense came out on fire as the Owls hit its first three-pointers as Trey Mitchell hit two and Jonny Woolf hit one putting the Owls ahead 9-6. A jumper by Klayton Kuschel put the Owls ahead by five, 11-6, with 17:46 left in the first half.
 
William Woods continued to hold a lead and after another Woolf three-pointer, the Owls led by seven points, 21-14. However, the Eagles answered back with the next seven points tying the game at 21-21 after an Allen Buchanan jumper. WWU answered by scoring the next eight points, 29-21, after a James jumper with 7:52 left before halftime.
 
The Owls stretched its lead to as many as 11 points in the first half but Williams Baptist offense got hot and slowly mounted a comeback. With the Owls ahead by one, 38-37, a jumper by Marquez Chew ended the first half with the Owls trailing by one, 39-38.
 
Williams Baptist grew its lead to six points to open the second half, 46-40, after a jumper by Marcus Springer. After the lead was at six for the Eagles, WWU started to mount its comeback. Shannon James tied the game at 49-49, after a jumper with 15:10 to go in the contest.
 
The game would be tied two more times, 51-51 and 53-53, before the Owls took control of the contest. WWU got a jumper by Brandon Vice, which started a 21-5 run for the Owls growing the Owls lead to 19 points, 74-55, with 3:29 left in the contest. Washington capped the run with a jumper in the paint.
 
William Woods did not let the Eagles back into the game and the Owls came away with a 19-point victory, 82-63. The Win for the Owls improves them to 12-4 and 7-2 in the AMC.
 
By the Numbers
5 – WWU had five players score in double-figures on Thursday
8 – The Owls hit eight three-pointers in the contest, led by Jonny Woolf with five
21 – Torin Washington led the Owls with 21 points
22 – William Woods dished out 22 assists in the contest
5 – The Owls had five blocks
54.0 – WWU shot 54.0 percent from the floor in the victory
7 – Shannon James led the Owls with seven assists
46 – WWU's bench came in and scored 46 points