Box Score CREVE COUER, Mo. - No. 22 William Woods University (14-2, 6-1 American Midwest Conference) took a 19-point lead at halftime and, behind two Owls with college career highs, rode it through for an 82-60 victory on the road against Missouri Baptist University (8-10, 5-3) Thursday at Carl & Deloris Petty SRC.

WWU seniors Tre Titus and Kevin Taylor had career nights, with Titus scoring a career-high 24 points (8-16 field goals, 4-7 3-pointers and 4-5 free throws) and Taylor collecting a career-high 14 boards. Taylor added 12 points for his sixth double-double this season and had three steals and one assist. Titus tacked on five rebounds, two assists and one steal to his stat sheet.

The Owls used their 3-point shooting to give it a comfortable 18-10 lead early, knocking down three triples in the first 8:21. Making those shots from deep were Titus from a Taylor assist to put Woods up 4-3, Ty'Shon Pannell from a Titus helper to extend the Owls advantage to 15-10 and Taylor off a Francis Okwuosah assist to finish the run that put them up by eight points. 

Just over three minutes later, strong transition play by WWU sent it ahead by 10 (25-15), with Henry Shannon III, who landed a 3-pointer on the previous possession, stealing the ball from the Spartans and Titus taking it to the hoop for a transition layup while fouled for the first two points of his three-point play. Following that, MBU turned it over, and D'Mari Wiltz and Taylor brought down offensive rebounds before Taylor hit a jumper to cap an 8-0 Owls run, which gave them a 28-15 lead. 

That was the first of two times WWU scored eight unanswered points in the first half, and the second time the Owls did that, they made six successive free throws - two each by Okwuosah, Wiltz and Shannon - and finished the run with a Shannon bucket inside after he pulled down a defensive board. With that basket, WWU led 36-18 with 5:50 remaining in the first half. Those two aforementioned 8-0 runs proved to be the difference through one half, as the Owls were up 43-24 with 20 minutes to go.

"We came out with good energy and intensity tonight in the first half, which allowed us to get off to a good start," William Woods men's basketball coach Jordan Ashton said. "That's something we've got to be more consistent with for all 40 minutes. When we do that, along with being disciplined with our principles, we like our chances."

Missouri Baptist stayed with William Woods for the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Owls didn't go on a multi-possession run then, but they also contained the Spartans and outscored them 19-17 to stay ahead 62-41. In the latter stages of the second half, WWU's defensive effort showed, using a 16-7 run that spanned 4:57 to take its most significant lead at 78-51 with 4:04 remaining; five Owls scored in that time, with Titus and Wiltz posting five points each. That helped WWU to secure the widest margin of victory ever, 22 points, in a matchup at MBU.

"In the second half, for about a 10-minute stretch, we got away from it," Ashton said. "We settled offensively, were careless with the ball, weren't playing as hard as we needed to, and it showed. We'll continue to work on it going forward."

Outside of their top two performances, The Woods' standouts were Shannon with 15 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal, and Wiltz with 10 points (6-9 free throws), four boards, three assists and a block.

The Owls recorded 48 rebounds (14 offensive) with 13 second-chance points, scored 15 points off 10 forced turnovers and shot 46.8% (29-62) from the field, 40% (8-20) from 3-point range and 80% (16-20) from the free-throw line. The Spartans had 26 boards (four offensive) with three second-chance points, tallied 10 points off 13 forced turnovers and converted 36.8% (21-57), 22.2% (4-18) from deep and 73.7% (14-19) at the charity stripe.

"Overall, though, that was a good road win for us," Ashton said. "We need to carry it over, build off it, and continue to put in the work."

For the first time in 2025, William Woods has a weekend contest at home, taking on first-year AMC member Mission University (5-9, 3-4 AMC) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Anderson Arena in Fulton. Before the result was changed to a forfeit, the Owls routed the Patriots in the last matchup, 111-64, on Dec. 9, 2023, in Springfield.