FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University men's basketball team grabbed an 80-74 win over Graceland University Tuesday evening. The Owls improve to 3-6 on the season with all three wins coming from Anderson Arena.
 
The Owls next play in the St. Francis Thanksgiving Classic starting on Saturday, Nov. 27. They face East-West University on Saturday at 8 p.m. and host University of St. Francis (Ill.) on Sunday at 4 p.m.
 
By The Numbers
56.0 – The Owls shot 56 percent from the field through the 40 minutes (28-50 FG).
50.0 – The team shot 50 percent from the three-point line (9-18 3FG).
20 – Spencer Yoggerst scored a team-high 20 points as he went 5-for-10 from the field and 9-for-13 from the foul line.
18 – Makenzie Fessler added 18 points to the win, shooting 8-for-12 from the field.
11 – Mike Robinson hit three three-pointers and a jumper to tally 11 points.
7 – Jared Crutcher pulled down a floor-high seven rebounds.
6 – Makenzie Fessler dished out a floor-high six assists, and Darius Yohe pulled down six boards.
 
Game Highlights
The Owls jumped out to a 14-2 lead four and a half minutes in with eight points coming from Makenzie Fessler, three from Mike Robinson and three from Andrew Nett.
 
The Owls sparked a 10-0 run over a four-minute span with seven points coming from Spencer Yoggerst to take up an 18-point lead with 9:31 on the clock, 26-8.
 
GU pushed an 8-0 run to bring the game within 10 with 4:19 to play, but two free throws from Fessler and a three from Robinson put the Owls back up by 15, 31-16.
 
A three from Yoggerst kept the Owls up by 15, but GU scored the final points of the half to send the Owls into the locker room with a 35-22 lead.
 
GU cut the game to single digits five minutes into the second half but the Owls continually pushed the lead back to double digits. A three from Dylan Pitt gave the Owls a 13-point lead halfway through the second half, and a three from Andrew Nett gave the Owls a 14-point lead with 6:28 to play.
 
A 5-0 run brought GU to single digits again, and an Owls' foul on a three-pointer allowed GU to bring the game within seven with 3:19 to play, 67-60.
 
Jared Crutcher scored three on a traditional three-point play to go up by 10, and back-to-back down low buckets from him gave the Owls a 12-point lead with 1:42 on the clock, 74-62.
 
Another 5-0 GU run cut the game to seven with 36 seconds on the clock, 74-67.
 
Fouling to stop the clock, GU sent Yoggerst to the line where he went 4-for-4 from the foul line over the next 15 seconds to give the Owls a nine-point advantage, 78-69.
 
A three from GU with seven seconds on the clock brought the game within five, but Yoggerst closed out the game at the foul line to put the Owls up 80-74 at the buzzer.