FULTON, Mo. - (RV) William Woods University (9-2, 3-1 American Midwest Conference) made program history by reaching triple digits in back-to-back games for the first time, and for the first time this season, the Owls had six players score in double figures, as they beat Harris-Stowe State University (4-8, 1-3) 100-51 Saturday at Anderson Arena. It was also the first time since 2015-16 that WWU recorded at least 100 points in two games in a season, and unlike the previous instance, the Owls got to triple figures in regulation.

"Proud of our guys," William Woods men's basketball coach Jordan Ashton said. "They've been improving with the areas we've been locking in to and focusing on. That needs to continue this next week. We need to carry it over and continue getting better."

Spurring The Woods to its 100-point performance, it went 16-40 (40 percent) from beyond the arc for 48 percent of its total points. Jack Wetzel, an Owl that's been more than a spark off the bench of late, continued to show he's a 3-point shooting specialist by draining a game-high 6-of-11 3-pointers for 18 of his game-high 20 points.

"I also want to highlight our bench production," Ashton said. "We've had some guys banged up, and others have really stepped up for us. That's been great to see, and we need it going forward."

Not only did William Woods have strong performances from its bench, but it also did from its starting five, the two leading the way being the two Iowa Wesleyan University transfers, Henry Shannon III and Francis Okwuosah, who joined Ashton in becoming Owls after the institution closed down. Shannon made some highlight reel dunks en route to tallying the most points, 19 (9-11 field goals and 1-1 3-pointers) among the starters between the two teams while adding a block, steal and a rebound. Okwuosah posted his third straight double-double and fifth this season, with 14 points and a game-high 10 boards. 

From start to finish, The Woods remained on top after the game's opening possession when Shannon rattled the rim for the first of three two-handed dunks from D'Mari Wiltz assists in the first half - Shannon totaled four slams, with Ty'Shon Pannell providing the last of them. Still early, the Owls truly took control thanks to their 8-0 run that ended with them holding a 15-1 advantage 4:45 into the contest. During that stretch, WWU's Kevin Taylor recorded five points from a jumper, layup and free throw, Nate Schwartze three from a 3-pointer and Shannon two from his second dunk of the match.

The Owls only piled on more points, increasing their lead to 22 (40-18) on Pannell's triple from an Okwuosah assist with 6:27 left in the first half. Taylor answered the bell in the stretch that saw Woods further its advantage to 30 points, making a putback layup before bringing down a defensive rebound and dishing it to Schwartze, who hit his fastbreak bucket in the paint to put it at 53-23 Owls, the final points of the first half with 1:50 left.

Although William Woods already held a commanding lead, the Owls' most dominant stretch hadn't happened yet. WWU put together its best period of basketball early in the second half, registering 14 points with no answer to heighten its lead to 72-25 with 13:46 left. In that run, Okwuosah notched six points from three layups, Shannon four from a layup and his fifth and final game-high dunk and Taylor and Wiltz two each from a layup. 

Just over 5:00 after the Owls finished their longest run, they took a 50-point lead as Tre Titus knocked down a 3 assisted by Schwartze. Unlike WWU's last game, it accomplished the challenging feat of going up by 60 points, and just like it did for its 50-point advantage, the Owls converted a triple, with Wetzel the one to do it off a Pannell assist. Fittingly, Wetzel's sixth and final 3-pointer was the bow to WWU's 100-point game, taking the last of Pannell's eight assists. 

With so many makes from beyond the arc, the Owls had a lot of assists, 31. Wiltz led the way with a game-high nine assists, followed by Pannell with eight and Schwartze with five. 

Speaking of Schwartze, he can now claim to be the most selfless player in William Woods history as the program's all-time career assists leader. He broke the 10-year-old record previously held by Dontre Jenkins with 281 in an 84-66 win over Williams Baptist University on Nov. 23 in Walnut Ridge, Ark., though it was officially announced Saturday - Schwartze currently sits at 289 assists for his career.

In an all-around great game, the Owls collected 55 boards (20 offensive) with 24 second-chance points, tallied 14 points off 12 forced turnovers and were 41-78 (52.6 percent) from the field and 2-3 (66.7 percent) from the free-throw line. The Hornets recorded 26 rebounds (nine offensive) with four second-chance points, 13 points off 11 forced turnovers and converted 15-57 (26.3 percent) from the field, 4-18 (22.2 percent) from deep and 17-22 (77.3 percent) from the charity stripe.

Striving to carry over its superior form to next week, William Woods finishes the first half of its four-game homestand versus rival Columbia College (8-3, 4-0 AMC) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

"Now we shift our focus to Thursday," Ashton said. "Huge game for us at home; we need to be ready to go."
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