FULTON, Mo. - Venturing away from conference play, (RV) William Woods University's (7-2)
Francis Okwuosah (game-high 18 points and co-game-high 12 rebounds) and
Kevin Taylor (16 points and co-game-high 12 boards - added a game-high four steals) posted double-doubles in the Owls' 72-68 victory over McPherson College (2-5) Tuesday at Anderson Arena.
"We played about 10 minutes of great basketball tonight, got a little lead, then relaxed and got away from going the things that got us the lead," William Woods men's basketball coach
Jordan Ashton said. "We need to get a lot better. Thankfully, with this group, it's all things we control. We're going to focus on the process with our goals in mind, put our heads down and work harder."
Not only did WWU have strong performances from its forwards, but it also did from its guards, as
Nate Schwartze tallied 12 points and eight rebounds, and
D'Mari Wiltz filled up the stat sheet with seven points, five boards and five assists.
To begin the contest, it was all Owls, with the hosts already going up by double-digits, 19-8, just 6:55 into the game. Okwuosah led Woods on both sides in that time, scoring seven points (two 3-pointers) and collecting two rebounds, one defensive and one offensive;
Tre Titus' layup off a
Ty'Shon Pannell assist concluded the run.Â
McPherson only reduced its deficit to nine points before William Woods registered eight points with no reply to go up by 17 with 5:03 remaining in the first half. Okwuosah and Taylor each had four points, the former adding two rebounds and the latter a block during that stretch. The Bulldogs eventually brought it back to a nine-point game, but the Owls out-scored them 6-4 to end the half with an 11-point lead (43-32).
William Woods struggled for the 11 minutes of the second half, getting out-scored 24-9 and allowing McPherson to take its first and only lead at 54-52 with 9:46 to go. During the Bulldogs' lead-changing run, they converted 9-9 free throws while the Owls committed eight fouls.
However, WWU got out of its rut and found its groove, with an 11-2 run, going on top for good in that time on Okwuosah's putback layup that made it 56-54 Owls with 7:48 remaining; Okwuosah notched five points (one 3-pointer) and two rebounds (one defensive and offensive) and Schwartze six points.
Although the Owls did lead from there, they nearly let it slip in a nervy ending to the matchup. The Bulldogs hit the last two of their 15-of-16 free throw makes in the second half to cut their deficit to a point (69-68) with 1:41 on the clock. Instead of McPherson completing the comeback, WWU sealed its 72-68 victory thanks to a Titus free throw make and a Pannell layup, which sent its fans home happy over the Thanksgiving break.Â
The Owls posted 50 rebounds (23 offensive) with 17 second-chance points, scored nine points off 12 forced turnovers and were 27-74 (36.5 percent) from the field, 7-31 (22.6 percent) from deep and 11-15 (73.3 percent) at the free throw line. The Bulldogs totaled 35 boards (10 offensive) with 14 second-chance points, recorded 13 points off 10 forced turnovers and were 22-59 (37.3 percent) from the field, 8-24 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range and 16-17 (94.1 percent) at the charity stripe.
After the Thanksgiving festivities, William Woods (1-1 American Midwest Conference) jumps back into AMC action, facing the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis (5-3, 0-2 AMC) at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at UHSP Gymnasium in St. Louis.
