OSKALOOSA, Iowa – The Owls hit the road Friday night for a tough Heart match-up with the William Penn Statesmen (6-3, 1-2 Heart), falling 76-69 in a physical, back-and-forth battle inside Penn Gymnasium.
William Woods (3-5, 1-2 Heart) came out competing on both ends, keeping the pace with the Statesmen early and getting timely scoring from multiple players. With the slow offensive start from the Owls,
Mark Onyejekwe kept the Woods in striking distance, putting up 10 points and knocking down a pair of threes. Woods went into the half trailing the Statesmen 34-24, searching for their offensive spark.
Coming out of the locker room, the Owls flipped the switch offensively. With offensive pushes from
Brock Davis with 10 points and
Isaiah Payne with 8 points to the Owls inch closer to the Statesmen in the second half. Solid production from the Owls bench would be the story of the second half, with 26 points coming from the bench, with
Clay Butler leading with 7 points off the bench.
Despite the second half offensive surge, the rebounding problems for the Owls still loomed large as they would get out-rebounded 50-32 and fall to the statesmen in the final seconds.
The Owls were led by Onyejekwe with 17 points, with three triples, and Davis added another 12 points and 6 rebounds on top for Woods. The defensive side of the Owls forced 12 turnovers with 9 steals.
The Owls will head to St. Louis to face off against the Missouri Baptist Spartans at the Carl Deloris Petty SRC on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
