WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. - Joey Brown IV's career high 24 points led William Woods (11-7, 3-3 AMC) to an 89-79 victory over Williams Baptist University (10-8, 2-5 AMC) on Saturday.
The first half was a competitive affair that saw 10 lead changes and five ties. Neither team led by more than five over the opening 20:00, with Williams Baptist taking its largest lead of the half at the 9:07 mark, leading 23-18.
Woods stormed back, outscoring WBU 16-10 to close the half and take a 34-33 lead into the locker room.
Jared Crutcher keyed the Owls run in the first half, coming off the bench to score nine points and grab five rebounds.
The first five minutes of the second half looked very similar to the first half after a tip-in by
Nate Schwartze tied the game 47-47 with 14:42 to play.
Woods blew the game open over the next seven minutes, however, erupting for a 22-4 run, opening up a 69-51 lead with 7:30 left.
WBU narrowed the gap as close as six points with 1:07 left with a three-pointer by Ben Keton, but
Francis Okwuosah answered with a layup and the Owls forced a turnover on the next possession and Brown hit both of his free throws after drawing the late-game foul.
Woods shot 50.8 percent (30-59) from the field and was 21-30 (70 percent) from the free throw line. Brown led all scorers with 24, with Okwuosah grabbing a double-double with a career-high 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Henry Shannon III added 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Owls open the back half of the AMC schedule on Thursday, traveling to Hannibal-LaGrange University for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
