FULTON, Mo. - Columbia College (8-4, 4-1 American Midwest Conference) thought it would be a storybook to achieve the program's 1,000th win at fierce rival RV William Woods University (10-2, 4-1). But that plan didn't come to fruition, with the Owls prevailing 84-81 in a down-to-the-wire matchup Thursday at Anderson Arena.

Not only did the result wind up being a close one, resulting in William Woods' fifth straight win, but both teams had five players score in double digits, and it was done by four starters and one bench player for both teams. Reaching double figures in points for the Owls were starters Francis Okwuosah with 16 (6-12 field goals), Henry Shannon III with 12 (5-5 free throws), Kevin Taylor (3-5 3-pointers) and D'Mari Wiltz (5-7 field goals and 1-1 3-pointers) - added a game-high seven assists - with 11 each, and off the bench, Tre Titus with 10 (2-2 free throws and 2-4 3-pointers).

Early on, the Cougars controlled the game, going up by nine points (16-7) after Nate Brandt knocked down a 3 with 12:08 remaining in the first half. Soon after, Jack Wetzel answered for The Woods with a 3 off a Ty'Shon Pannell assist to cut it to a two-possession contest (16-10). The Owls got within six points of CC one more time on Pannell's jumper with 10:50 remaining in the first half, though the Cougars finally got their double-digit lead at 23-13 on Seth Larson's layup with 9:42 to go before halftime. 

Columbia went on to extend its advantage to 33-21, then William Woods followed that up with a 9-2 run to bring it to a five-point game (35-30). During that run, a trio of Owls guards answered the bell: Titus began the stretch with a 3-pointer and two free throw makes off the bench, and then Wiltz hit a layup before a Nate Schwartze layup from a Titus assist capped it with 2:58 left in the first half. That wasn't the closest WWU trimmed its deficit to in the first half, getting it down to three points (37-34) with :55 left on Wiltz's layup after Okwuosah brought down a defensive board. With :02 on the clock, Beau Washer converted two free throws to double the Cougars' advantage, holding a 42-36 lead at halftime.

In the first half, Columbia made 14-30 (46.7 percent) field goals and 10-11 (90.9 percent) free throws, and William Woods converted 13-36 (36.1 percent) field goals and 7-8 (87.5 percent) free throws. But who scored and made more field goals and free throws in the second half? The Owls did, going 16-32 (50 percent) from the field and 7-8 (87.5 percent) at the stripe to the Cougars' 14-30 (46.7 percent) field goals and 5-6 (83.3 percent) free throws.

After Columbia increased its lead to eight points (46-38) with 19:04 left, William Woods evaporated the Cougars' advantage in a rapid 1:44. To do that, the Owls' Taylor drained a 3 provided by Wiltz, Okwuosah made a layup assisted by Wiltz and Wiltz did the scoring himself with a triple from a Titus helper to tie it at 46. WWU didn't stop shooting the 3, and Owls 3-point specialist Wetzel hit a big one from deep - Wiltz assisted -  putting the hosts on top 52-49 with 16:04 to go.

For the next 10 minutes, it turned into a boxing match, with each team handing the other a blow before a shot with 5:53 on the clock changed the game's trajectory. Following a Cougars turnover, Taylor took a Wiltz dish and stroked his attempt from deep into the hoop to give William Woods the lead the rest of the way at 75-72.

While the Owls did stay in front from there, it wasn't without the nerves, the thrills and all the other emotions that come with a close college basketball game. Collin Parker, fresh off being the first-ever player to sweep the AMC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards, reduced Columbia's deficit to two points (78-76) with 3:51 left. 

Following that, neither team scored a basket until Schwartze landed a jumper to increase Woods' lead to four points with 1:08 left. Schwartze did that one more time at 82-78 with :17 left when he swished in two free throws, but that wasn't the dagger by any means. The Cougars called timeout with :14 remaining, and a second later, Brandt sank a triple to send it to an 82-81 Owls lead. Then, WWU used a timeout with :09 left before the Owls missed a free throw two seconds later to give the Cougars a grade-A chance to win it. Fast forward three seconds, CC turned it over, and with less than a second left, Okwuosah's inside bucket from Taylor's assist sealed the three-point William Woods win.

En route to taking down the Cougars for the first time in two seasons, the Owls recorded 38 rebounds (16 offensive) with 18 second-chance points, scored 17 points off 14 forced turnovers and were 29-68 (42.6 percent) from the field, 12-34 (35.3 percent) from 3-point range and 14-16 (87.5 percent) from the free-throw line. CC posted 37 boards (12 offensive) with 12 second-chance points, tallied nine points off nine forced turnovers and converted 28-60 (46.7 percent) field goals, 10-26 (38.5 percent) 3-pointers and 15-17 (88.2 percent) free throws.

William Woods looks to solidify its winning record even more when Hannibal-LaGrange University (5-6, 2-2 AMC) comes to Fulton for a 3 p.m. tip on Saturday. The Owls have won 10 straight over the Trojans, the longest winning streak in the 28-game all-time series. Read Full Article