FULTON, Mo. - Despite a double-double (15 pts, 13 reb.) by
Francis Okwuosah and a 44.1-36.8 percent shooting edge on the night, William Woods (10-6 2-2 AMC) was rudely upended in the final minute of the contest, falling 80-76 to Columbia College (14-4, 5-1 AMC) on Saturday.
As both teams struggled in the opening half, Columbia meandered out to a 13-6 lead as Trendon Tisdale knocked down a three-pointer at the 10:04 mark.
Midseason transfer
Jack Wetzel answered with a three that brought the Anderson Arena crowd to its feet, sparking a 12-2 run for the Owls.
Kyle Belgrave II punctuated the run with a huge dunk at the 8:12 mark and tied the game at 15-15 on a layup with 7:33 to go.
Wetzel knocked down another triple to put Woods in front 18-15 with 6:21 to play. The Cougars stopped the run with a 5-1 spurt driven by Collin Parker, but back-to-back baskets by
Nate Schwartze - a jumper followed by a big triple - put Woods back in front for good, as the Owls took a 39-28 lead into the locker room.
Okwuosah immediately extended the Owls lead to double-digits to start the second half, knocking down a three pointer off an assist by
Gacoby Jones Jr. on WWU's first possession. The Cougars whittled the deficit down to five, but the Jones to Okwuosah combo answered again with back-to-back threes sandwiching a missed jumper and forcing a Columbia timeout with 15:15 on the clock and the Owls leading 49-38.
Columbia finally mustered a 66-66 tie with 5:38 on the clock, with Marlon Allen putting the visitors in front with a bucket at the 4:42 mark.
The teams traded triples as Schwartze reclaimed a 69-68 lead for WWU on an assist by
Ty'Shon Pannell, with Allen finding Harrison Vickers on Columbia's next possession.
After surviving a pair of turnovers, Okwuosah leveled the game at 71-71, with Parker and Jones trading baskets to keep the game level at 73-73 entering the final minute.
Woods forced Columbia into a timeout with 39.9 seconds on the game clock and 12 on the shot clock and managed to keep the ball out of the hands of Parker, Columbia's first choice on the inbounds.
As the shot clock ticked away, Isiah Harris was forced to pass to Vickers on the right wing. Vickers's hasty three was off the mark from the release, but as Harris followed the pass, he stepped into the path of a collapsing Jones. The collision sent Jones to the floor directly underneath Vickers, but he wasn't the only Owl sent flying in the aftermath, as Belgrave was clattered into by Tisdale.
A quick whistle sounded, but the cheers inside Anderson quickly turned sour as Jones was charged with the foul for impeding the landing of Vickers.
After the reversal of fortune, Woods was unable to find the range on its next possession despite a pair of big offensive rebounds. Forced to foul after the final miss landed out of bounds, Jones still managed to keep WWU's chances alive with a triple with 3.5 seconds left and a 78-76 score.
Unfortunately for Woods, Holden knocked down both free throws after drawing the quick foul to set the four-point margin.
Woods outshot Columbia 44.1 percent (30-68) to 36.8 percent (25-68) on the afternoon, including a 31.3 (10-32)-28.6 (6-21) percent advantage from long range, but the Cougars went to the line 26 times, knocking down 24 on the afternoon to just six of nine for WWU.
The Owls have a rescheduled contest to start a four-game road swing, taking on Harris-Stowe State University on Monday, Jan. 22. Tipoff for the game is set for 7:30 p.m.
