WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. – The William Woods University men's basketball team used a strong second half and a well rounded offense to lift them over Williams Baptist University Thursday evening, 78-71. The Owls improve to 5-7 on the season with a 5-5 conference mark.
 
WWU's Darius Yohe and Makenzie Fessler put up 18 points each with Yohe shooting 87.5 percent from the field, and Jared Crutcher posted his second double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 points. 
 
The Owls next travel to Harris-Stowe State University for their 11^th conference match up. The Owls tip-off at 3 p.m.
 
By The Numbers
50.9 – The Owls shot 50.9 percent from the field (29-57 FG).
41 – The Owls outscored WBU 41-28 in the second half.
32 – The Owls scored 32 points in the paint.
18 – Makenzie Fessler and Darius Yohe tallied 18 points each. Yohe shot 87.5 percent from the field (7-for-8).
11 – Jared Crutcher led the Owls with 11 rebounds, posting a double-double in the process.
10 – Jared Crutcher added 10 points to the win (4-6 FG).
9 – Mike Robinson went 3-for-3 from the arc for nine points. Makenzie Fessler pulled down nine boards. Spencer Yoggerst tallied nine points and dished in nine assists.
 
Game Flow
The Owls and WBU were neck-and-neck to start the game with four ties and seven lead changes through the first six minutes. A free throw from Darius Yohe followed by a jumper started an Owls' 8-0 run to take a seven-point lead with 13:12 on the clock, 19-12.
 
WBU answered with an 8-0 run of their own over the next two minutes to take a one-point lead, 23-22.
 
The two teams traded buckets over the next three minutes, and WBU slapped a 14-0 run on the Owls over almost a four-minute span to take a 13-point lead, 41-28.
 
The Owls cut the game to six following seven consecutive points from Spencer Yoggerst and Andrew Nett, 41-35. Tyriel Nelson scored the final points of the half to send the game into break with the Owls trailing by six, 43-37.
 
WBU hit a three coming into the second half and took a 10-point lead just under a minute in.
 
The Owls countered with a 14-3 run over the next 3 ½ minutes to take a one-point lead with 14:25 to play, 52-51. Yohe scored eight of the run's points.
 
The team pushed out a four-point lead with a three from Mike Robinson, and a jumper from Makenzie Fessler maintained the lead, but WBU hit back-to-back jumpers to even the score, 59-59. 
 
The Owls took up a five-point lead and stayed one step ahead of WBU. A long jumper from Jared Crutcher gave the Owls a seven-point lead with 3:58 to play, 71-64.
 
Two free throws from WBU cut the game to four, but Fessler countered with a jumper on the next possession, 73-67. Yoggerst followed with a bucket to put the Owls up by eight with just a shade under one minute to play, 75-67.
 
WBU again cut the game to four with 36 seconds to play, but they had to foul to stop the clock. The Owls went 3-for-4 in the final 30 seconds while holding WBU from scoring to win the game 78-71.
 
The Owls outscored WBU 41-28 in the second half.