FULTON, Mo. — RV William Woods University (11-2, 5-1 American Midwest Conference) is off to its best start ever, achieving 11 wins in the least amount of games ever after cruising to a 74-43 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange University (5-7, 2-3) Saturday at Anderson Arena. The Owls also won their program-best seventh straight game, surpassing their previous record of six, which they accomplished twice, last season and in 2015-16.
Using an 11-player rotation, WWU's top performers were
Francis Okwuosah with his sixth double-double this season (11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds) and
Nate Schwartze with a game-high 13 points (6-10 field goals and one 3).
"We did a solid job defensively tonight and really locked into our keys," William Woods men's basketball coach
Jordan Ashton said. "They've got some very talented guys, so it took a full team effort. We've got a very good team coming here on Tuesday, and they've been playing well. We need to really lock in now and finish the first half of the season the right way."
To begin the game, the Owls used their 3-point shooting to jump out to two seven-point leads in the first 9:41.
Ty'Shon Pannell,
Jack Wetzel and Okwuosah knocked down a 3-pointer each, with Okuosah's giving The Woods its first seven-point advantage (15-8) with 11:47 remaining in the first half. Two drives later, Schwartze started a 7-0 Owls run by landing a jumper to put them back up by seven, 17-10, and after Okwuosah drained his second triple, the Tolton standout got a layup to fall to send WWU ahead 22-10 with 7:56 to go before halftime.
The Owls kept adding to their lead, getting it all the way up to 19 points at halftime. For Woods to get there, it scored seven points with no reply for the second time. Four of those points were from two
Kevin Taylor layups, and Schwartze's lone 3 capped the run and first-half offense with the Owls holding a 36-17 advantage at the break.
Staying superior on both sides, William Woods furthered its advantage to 35 points within the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Owls' strong start to the second half helped them get there, as they posted the first 12 points of the half, with Taylor tallying five of them from two free throws and a 3-pointer. Taylor's triple put WWU up 48-17, and just over four minutes later,
Tre Titus' fastbreak layup off an Okwuosah steal sent the Owls up by their widest margin at 60-25 — Okwuosah put down a transition dunk following an
Ahlante Askew steal on the previous possession.
From there, William Woods stayed in front by at least 28 points, and in the final 10 minutes, the Owls sank four 3-pointers, including three from sharpshooter Wetzel, who finished with four 3s to account for all 12 of his points. The Trojans' Davell Long, who tallied a team-high 12 points (4-5 field goals, 2-2 3-pointers and 2-2 free throws), concluded the contest's scoring by making two free throws in as many attempts as WWU won by 31 points.
In the matchup, the Owls registered 35 rebounds (seven offensive) with 12 second-chance points, posted 15 points off 14 forced turnovers and made 27-57 (47.4 percent) field goals, 13-29 (44.8 percent) 3-pointers and 7-8 (87.5 percent) free throws. HLGU recorded 35 rebounds (11 offensive) with seven second-chance points, six points off seven forced turnovers and converted 14-50 (28 percent) field goals, 6-20 (30 percent) 3-pointers and 9-12 (75 percent) free throws.
For its final home game of 2024, William Woods has a rematch with Friends University (8-3) at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The Owls prevailed 84-70 over the Falcons in their season opener on Oct. 25 in Wichita, Kan.
