WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Chugging along on its unprecedented postseason run, No. 9/No. 2 seed William Woods University (29-2) won its first-ever national tournament game and surpassed the century mark in the process, beating No. 15 seed Dillard University (19-12) 110-62 in the 87th Annual NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship first round Friday at Massimino Court.
Kevin Taylor continued his unstoppable stretch for the Owls, posting his second straight double-double with 24 points (9-13 field goals, 4-6 3-pointers and 2-2 free throws), 10 rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in just 24 minutes.
D'Mari Wiltz also had a double-double for The Woods, recording 12 points (4-5 field goals and 4-4 free throws), 10 assists, six rebounds and one steal in 24 minutes.
Francis Okwuosah nearly made it three double-doubles for WWU, tallying 18 points (6-10 3-pointers - all his shots from the field), eight boards, one assist and one block. Off the bench, the Owls'
Ty'Shon Pannell looked like Stephen Curry, splashing in 5-5 3-pointers and going 4-4 from the free-throw line for 19 points in 17 minutes.
Just 3:01 into the game, William Woods earned a double-digit lead for good when Okwuosah knocked down his fourth 3-pointer to make it 14-3 Owls. Just under three minutes later, Okwuosah drained his fifth triple to heighten WWU's advantage to 24-3. Then, Taylor put together two great offensive possessions, slamming the ball into the hoop off a Wiltz assist and then drilling a 3-pointer provided by
Nate Schwartze.Â
Keeping the intensity going,
Henry Shannon III gave Woods its first 30-point lead (35-5) on his layup from
Tre Titus' pass with 8:56 to go in the first half. Titus also assisted the bucket that handed the Owls their largest lead of the half, Pannell's 3-pointer that put it at 44-10 with 5:50 until the break. Taylor had another dunk and 3 in back-to-back drives, the slam coming off a Schwartze steal and assist and the make from deep following a Wiltz defensive board and Schwartze helper. Those were the final baskets of William Woods' most dominant first half this season, holding a 58-27 advantage through 20 minutes of play.
To begin the second half, the Owls went on an 8-2 run, starting with Taylor and Okwuosah 3-pointers assisted by Wiltz and ending with a Shannon fastbreak layup from an Okwuosah block and Taylor defensive rebound. WWU led 66-29 following that stretch.
The Bleu Devils didn't let the Owls increase their lead until late in the game when Pannell made a 3-pointer from Schwartze's pass, and Schwartze got a layup to fall off an
Aaiden Ashton steal, which elevated WWU's advantage to 40 points (97-57) with 3:27 left.
Jack Wetzel ended the 11-point unanswered stretch with back-to-back triples as the Owls surpassed the century mark in the process, leading 103-57. In a game full of 3-point makes, WWU ended the scoring on a triple, fittingly as Pannell did it with
Adam Barbieri assisting that bucket with 40 seconds remaining.
William Woods collected 46 rebounds (11 offensive) with 16 second-chance points, scored 19 points off eight forced turnovers and shot 57.1% (36-63) from the field, 51.4% (19-37) from 3-point range and 86.4% (19-22) from the line. Dillard had 17 boards (eight offensive) with five second-chance points, tallied 12 points off nine forced turnovers and converted 33.3% (22-66) from the field, 30.8% (8-26) from deep and 76.9% (10-13) from the stripe.
"Tonight was a great start for us," William Woods men's basketball coach
Jordan Ashton said. "We really guarded, stuck to the game plan and were disciplined for the majority of the game on both ends. We need to build off that game and keep going."
As expected with March Madness, the opposition only gets more challenging, and it does for the Owls, who face No. 19/No. 7 seed Keiser University (25-5) on the Seahawks' home court in the NAIA National Championship second round at 4 p.m. Saturday. In its first-round matchup, Keiser beat No. 10 seed Faulkner University 90-75.
"Tomorrow is going to be a different game," Ashton said. "Keiser is a very good team, and we're at their place. We need to be locked in and ready to go."
