FULTON, Mo. — A repeat matchup didn't take (RV) William Woods University (12-2) away from its winning ways, extending its school-record winning streak to eight games by beating a solid Friends University (8-4) team for the second time this season, 79-73 Tuesday at Anderson Arena.
"Another game where we really struggled for a stretch," William Woods men's basketball coach
Jordan Ashton said. "It really just comes down to us taking our foot off the pedal and not bringing the same level of intensity that we need to have. The positive thing about having a veteran group is that they know what they need to do. They understand how it needs to look; they understand everything that goes into it at all times and not letting up with any of it."
The Owls put in a collective team effort with five players in their eight-man rotation scoring in double figures and five collecting at least five rebounds. Leading the charge for WWU offensively,
Francis Okwuosah tallied a team-high 15 points (6-14 field goals), and
Tre Titus (3-3 3-pointers) and
Nate Schwartze (5-6 free throws) with 14 each, while
D'Mari Wiltz dished out a game-high nine assists and added eight points. Defensive leaders for The Woods were Okwuosah with a game-high seven rebounds and a co-team-high one block, and
Henry Shannon III with six rebounds, a team-high four steals and a co-team-high one block.
William Woods got its offense going from the opening tip, already up 15-2 7:42 into the contest. To get there, Schwartze recorded five points from a jumper and 3-pointer,
Kevin Taylor four from two free throw makes and a fastbreak layup off his steal (capped the run), Shannon two from an end-to-end bucket after his steal (began the run), Wiltz two from a layup following a Shannon offensive board and Titus two from two free throw makes.
Following their great start, the Owls had a cold stretch, which allowed the Falcons to go on a 19-5 run and take a 21-20 lead with 6:31 left in the first half. Friends remained in front the rest of the first half, and it extended its advantage to as much as 11 points when Cahlese Lee knocked down a 3-pointer to put it at 36-25 Falcons with 1:00 left. WWU brought it to a three-possession game at halftime, finishing the first-half scoring when Taylor stole it from Friends, and Titus drained his second 3-pointer from a Wiltz assist to make it 36-28 Falcons at the break.
The Owls have had some games this year in which they struggled shooting in the first half, then regrouped and found their groove in the second half — WWU's 84-81 victory over Columbia College on Thursday being the most notable.
That happened again Tuesday, with The Woods converting 8-24 (33.33%) from the field and 9-10 (90%) from the free-throw line in the first half before making 18-29 (62.07%) from the field and 10-13 (76.92%) at the line in the second half. While the Owls had a lower free-throw percentage in the second half, they still made more free throws and scoring chances than the Falcons. Friends went 13-27 (48.15%) from the field and 6-8 (75%) from the stripe in the first half, then it hit 14-29 (48.28%) from the field and 4-7 (57.14%) at the line in the second half.
Through improved shooting efficiency, William Woods narrowed its deficit to as low as one within the first 10 minutes of the second half. To get there, the Owls scored in three straight possessions while holding the Falcons scoreless. For those baskets, Taylor got a layup to fall from a Wiltz assist, Titus landed the last of his game-high three 3s off an Okwuosah assist and the pair changed roles with Okwuosah scoring a layup from a Titus assist to send it to a 48-47 Friends lead with 12:43 left.
Not letting its foot off the pedal, William Woods finally took its first lead of the second half when Okwuosah sank a triple provided by Wiltz to put the Owls ahead 65-64 with 5:31 to go. From there, WWU didn't relinquish its advantage, and the Owls increased their lead to as much as nine points twice.
The first of Woods' nine-point leads in the final minutes came thanks to posting seven unanswered points, with Okwuosah receiving a Titus pass and hitting a shot from deep to conclude the run with the Owls holding a 75-66 lead. After Friends made a layup on its ensuing possession,
Ty'Shon Pannell went 2-2 from the charity stripe to bring WWU's lead back to nine points (77-68) with 1:14 remaining. The Falcons narrowed their deficit to six points, then Pannell scored two more free throws with 16 seconds left to put WWU up 79-71 and all but seal the win.
In the contest, the Owls collected 36 rebounds (10 offensive) with 11 second-chance points, scored 18 points off 12 forced turnovers and went 26-53 (49.1%) from the field, 8-21 (38.1%) from deep and 19-23 (82.6%) from the free-throw line. The Falcons posted 27 boards (seven defensive) with seven second-chance points, tallied 14 points off 15 forced turnovers and made 27-56 (48.2%) field goals, 9-22 (40.9%) 3-pointers and 10-15 (66.7%) free throws.
William Woods has an exciting exhibition matchup to wrap up the 2024 side of its season, facing the oldest university west of the Mississippi River, NCAA Division I Saint Louis University (6-4), at 7 p.m. Dec. 28 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis; it'll be an official game for the Billikens. Tickets for the unique contest are
on sale for just $5.
