FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University men's basketball team won its second straight contest as they defeated the Trojans of Hannibal-LaGrange University, 72-57, on Saturday afternoon in American Midwest Conference action.
 
Leading the Owls was senior DaShaun Stark, who scored 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Freshman, Codi Whitlock was the other lone Owl in double-figures as he scored 10. The Owls hit eight threes in the contest; the second most the Owls have hit in a game this season. WWU shot 47.3 percent from the floor.
 
WWU returns to action on Monday, January 15th when they travel to Tahlequah, Oklahoma to face Northeastern State University in an exhibition contest. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls offense came out to a slow start as Darrien Dickey put the Owls on the scoreboard with a free throw. WWU trailed 5-1 after Tyrone Hueitt Jr. hit a jumper in the paint. WWU's DaShaun Stark came down and put the Owls down one, 5-4, with 17:19 left.
 
Two minutes later, Stark put the Owls ahead, 7-5, after he took a pass from Keyaire Marshall and hit his second three of the game. William Woods lead stretched to five, 10-5, after a Brian Enriquez three. Brady Smith scored the first basket for the Trojans after a three-minute scoring drought by Hannibal-LaGrange.
 
WWU slowly started to extend its lead in the contest and after a layup by Jason Walker, the Owls led by 12, 29-17, with 6:26 left in the first half. William Woods grew the lead to 14 points before the Trojans slowly started to comeback.
 
The Trojans went on a 7-0 run trimming the Owls lead down to seven, 31-24, with 3:38 left in the half. WWU outscored the Trojans, 7-2 over the last three minutes and took a 38-26 lead into halftime.
 
WWU stretched its lead to 17, 45-28, over the first two minutes of the second half. Makenzie Fessler scored five of the Owls first seven points of the half. WWU stretched the lead to 18, 51-33, with 15:13 left after a Codi Whitlock layup.
 
Stark put the Owls ahead 54-35 three minutes later, after hitting another three-pointer. The Trojans followed by chipping away at the Owls lead and got the Owls lead down to single digits. With the Owls leading 61-43, Hannibal-LaGrange went on a 9-0 run and kept the Owls scoreless for a four-minute span.
 
Nine-points would be as close as the Trojans would get for the rest of the contest as WWU grew its lead back to 17 points, 69-52, after Stark collected an offensive rebound and put it up and in. The Owls held the Trojans to five points over the final three minutes and won its second straight game with a 72-57 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange.
 
By the Numbers
27 – DaShaun Stark led the Owls with 27 points
2 – WWU had two players score in double-figures
12 – Stark led the Owls with 12 rebounds
18 – William Woods committed 18 turnovers in the contest
47.3 – WWU shot 47.3 percent from the field
8 – The Owls hit eight threes in the victory; its second most in a game
8 – Keyaire Marshall dished out eight assists
19 – WWU had 19 assists in the contest
12-for-15 – William Woods shot 12-for-15 from the free throw line