FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University men's basketball team used a strong second half to defeat Park University, 58-51, in American Midwest Conference action on Saturday afternoon. WWU outscored the Pirates by 11 in the second half.
 
DaShaun Stark led the Owls with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Brandon Vice added 11 points for the Owls and Darrien Dickey scored 10 rounding out the double-figure scorers for the Owls. WWU shot 40 percent from the floor in the contest.
 
William Woods returns to action on Thursday, January 25th when they travel to St. Louis, Missouri to face Missouri Baptist University in AMC action. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls offense got off to a fast start in the contest as Makenzie Fessler grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back for the first points of the game. On the next trip down the Owls Stark hit a three putting the Owls ahead 5-0. WWU grew the lead to seven, 11-4, after a Stark jumper in the paint with 12:34 left.
 
Park did not go away as scored the next nine points taking a four-point lead, 15-11. A three-pointer by Zach Rutland gave the Pirates the lead. With Park holding the lead the Owls and Pirates traded buckets and WWU found itself down three, 21-18, with 2:41 left in the half.
 
WWU scored the next four points taking a 22-21 lead after a basket by Codi Whitlock in the paint. However, Park scored the final five points of the half taking a 26-22 lead into halftime.
 
The game remained close in the second half as a Stark layup put the Owls down one, 26-25. Park would grow its lead to three, but the Owls continued to come back and a three-point play by Stark tied the game at 30-30 with 15:01 left.
 
WWU took the lead at 32-30, with 14:48 left after a Brian Enriquez runner in the paint. Over the next six minutes of the contest, the Owls slowly grew its lead to 10, 43-33, over the Pirates. WWU continued to hold onto a ten-point lead and after a Darrien Dickey layup WWU led 47-37, with 6:53 left.
 
Park continued to battle, and the Pirates went on a 9-0 run trimming the Owls lead down to one, 47-46, with 4:03 left in the contest. WWU did not let the Pirates take the lead and grew the lead back to six, 52-46, after a pair of free throws by Brandon Vice.
 
WWU did not let the Pirates get closer than five points for the remainder of the contest and the Owls came away with a 58-51 victory.
 
By the Numbers
3 – WWU had three players score in double-figures
17 – DaShaun Stark led the Owls with 17 points in the contest
40.0 – William Woods shot 40 percent in the contest
20 – The Owls committed 20 turnovers against the Pirates
5 – WWU had five steals against Park
9 – Brandon Vice led the Owls with nine rebounds
17-of-23 – WWU was 17-of-23 from the free throw line in the contest
34 – William Woods scored 34 points in the paint