WICHITA, Kan. – The William Woods University Owls used a big second half run to take control and then held off the Friends University Falcons 84-70 in the 2024-25 season opener for both teams tonight (Oct. 25) inside the Garvey Center.

It was a defensive struggle through the early parts of the opening half, with the Falcons holding an 11-6 lead during the game's first nine minutes.

The Falcons kept applying the pressure and twice built the lead up to 10 points, with the last occasion coming on a score from Dannon Lundy that made it 21-11 with 8:27 left in the opening half.  

With the Falcons still up by seven following a three-pointer from KJ Spiller, consecutive baskets by Francis Okwuosah and a three from Nate Schwartze tied the game for the first time since it was 6-6 at the 15:04 mark.

A three by Josh Price and a bucket from Spiller temporarily turned the tide back in the Falcons' favor, but the Owls scored the last six points of the first half to lead 37-36 at the break.

The Owls picked up where they left off with the first nine points of the second half that made it a 15-0 burst from the final minute of the first half through the first four minutes of the second half for a double-digit lead of 46-36.

William Woods pushed the lead up to 13 before a three by Al Emerllahu capped a 7-0 spurt that pulled the Falcons within six.

But a score by Henry Shannon III and a three from Ty'Shon Pannell provided the Owls with a response that pushed the lead back to 61-50 with 8:53 left.

The Owls managed to keep the Falcons at arm's length from that point, leading by at least seven and by as many as 16 in the final seconds.

Kee'on Hutton led the Falcons with 14 points and Randy Woolf, Jr. added 13 in his Falcon debut. Lundy scored 10 in his first career game at Friends and Emerllahu also finished with 10 points.

Shannon III led all scorers with 20 points with a game-high seven rebounds for the Owls and Okwuosah contributed 18 points.  Schwartze chipped in with 14 points for William Woods.

The Owls maintained a big advantage inside, holding a 44-30 edge in rebounding.

Friends will next play a pair of games at the Andy Carrier Memorial Basketball Classic next weekend at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan. The Falcons will face Kansas Christian College on Friday (Nov. 1) and then Calvary University on Saturday (Nov. 2).