MARSHALL, Mo. – The William Woods University Men's Basketball team fell to Missouri Valley College, 79-55, in the Owls 2017-18 season opener on Tuesday night.
 
DaShaun Stark led the Owls with 19 points in the contest against the Vikings. WWU shot 35 percent from the floor and was 3-for-20 shooting from behind the arc in the loss. ­
 
The Owls return to action on Friday, November 3rd when they travel to Columbia, Mo. to participate in the Cougar Classic. The Owls square off against Culver-Stockton College at 3 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Vikings came out of the gate outscoring the Owls 7-2 over the first two minutes of the contest. However, the Owls started coming back and a two point by Brian Enriquez trimmed the lead down to two, 9-7.
 
Three minutes later, Brandon Vice hit a jumper in the lane putting the Owls down one, 15-14, with 13:30 left in the first half. WWU took the lead on its next bucket when Hakeem Simon hit a jumper in the paint putting the Owls ahead, 16-15.
 
The Vikings answered back and grew its lead to eight, 28-20, over the next five minutes of the contest. The Owls continued to chip away at Missouri Valley's lead as a layup by DaShaun Stark put the Owls down five 35-30. WWU would not get any closer in the first half and trailed 38-30 at halftime.
 
After a basket by Missouri Valley to open the second half, the Owls answered back on a jumper by Enriquez putting the Owls down eight. WWU continued to chip away and after back to back fast break layups by Stark and Dickey the Owls trailed by four, 42-38, with 17:05 left in the half.
 
After cutting the lead down to four, the Vikings went on a 23-2 run taking a 25-point lead, 65-40. During that stretch, the Owls went scoreless for over four minutes.  
 
The Owls Shamari Denson hit a jumper with just under six minutes to go in the contest, putting the Owls down 19, 67-48. That would be as close as Owls would get for the remainder of the contest as they were defeated 79-55, by the Vikings.
 
By the Numbers
19 – DaShaun Stark scored 19 points in the contest
2 – WWU had two players score in double figures
10 – Darrien Dickey scored 10 points for the Owls
5 – Darrien Dickey led the Owls with five rebounds
12 – WWU had 12 assists in the match against the Vikings
8 – The Owls had eight steals in the contest
3-of-20 – William Woods was 3-of-20 shooting from behind the arc
32 – WWU scored 32 points in the paint