Fayette, Mo.– USM men's basketball surrendered nine consecutive points after taking a second-half lead and fell 82-78 to William Woods University (MO) on Saturday, October 24, at Puckett Fieldhouse to wrap up opening weekend. Adam Tanner and Joe Clark led the Spires with 16 points apiece.

Clark opened the USM scoring with an electric dunk assisted by Zach Hayslett, but the Owls built a 23-15 advantage with 11:26 remaining in the first half. Clark's layup and Jordan Brown's 3-pointer trimmed the deficit to three. Later, Brayden Rubidoux collected an offensive rebound and assisted Tanner's 3-pointer during a 7-0 Spire run. Hassan Flemming's steal and assist set up Brown's layup to bring the Spires within 32-31 at 4:24.

Camory Hall kept USM close with a 3-pointer off Preston Ross' assist at 2:37. Brown made all three free throws with one second remaining to send the Spires into halftime trailing 44-40. Brown finished with eight points, five rebounds and two assists, while Hall supplied six points on 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc and USM's only blocked shot.

Brown's steal helped create Hayslett's 3-pointer to open the Spires second-half scoring. Hall then started another 7-0 surge with a 3-pointer at 14:10, followed by layups from Flemming and Tanner that gave the Spires their first lead, 55-54, with 12:11 left. Clark put Saint Mary ahead again, 59-58, on a layup assisted by Tanner at 9:56. Clark finished 7-of-9 from the field with five rebounds and two steals, while Tanner added four assists.

WWU answered with the decisive 9-0 run, capped by Linton's 3-pointer for a 67-59 lead at 6:53. Clark countered with a layup and one made free throw to cut the deficit to 69-65 at 4:56, but the visitors pushed the margin again to nine. Clark scored again after an offensive rebound, and Flemming made two free throws at 2:02 to bring USM within 76-69. Flemming finished with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

Harper's dunk restored an 80-71 William Woods energy and their lead with 39 seconds left. Tanner scored at 27 seconds, Isaiah Payne made 1-of-2 free throws and Hayslett added a layup with 12 seconds remaining. Linton then made 1-of-2 free throws before Hayslett hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to finish with 14 points. Linton led William Woods with 20 points and four assists.

The Spires shot 46.7% from the field and recorded 14 assists, with Rubidoux contributing four rebounds and two assists. Both teams committed 14 turnovers and scored 34 points in the paint. William Woods held a 45-31 rebounding advantage and an 18-11 edge in second-chance points, aided by Harper's 19 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks and Onyejekwe's 10 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. The visitors also made 26-of-36 free throws, compared with USM's 16-of-25.
 
Coming Up…

The Spires will get right back to it next weekend as they head to Pryor, Oklahoma to compete in the Patriot Auto Group Classic. USM will see the Langston Lions for the third straight year on Friday, October 30^th with tip-off set for 1 p.m. in the Burdick Center.