A strong second-half push by William Woods proved to be the difference in the game as the Lyon College men’s basketball team came up just short against the Owls and fell by a score of 66-61 on Thursday night. Lyon dropped to 8-5 (3-3 American Midwest Conference), while WWU improved to 7-5 (4-2 AMC).
Lyon led for much of the game and took a 42-31 advantage over WWU in the second half after two of Faris Verlasevic’s game-high 23 points. The sophomore center set a new career high with the 23-point night. Lyon answered a pair of scores by the Owls with a bucket by Ray Price and a three by Emir Sabic, but a three-pointer by Aaron Brookins opened up a 14-0 run for WWU. Blake Bradshaw ended the WWU run with a pair of free throws before a tough layup by Antanas Krimelis brought the Scots back with one at 53-52. The Scots continued to fight back into the game and had an answer for every William Woods’ bucket as back-to-back threes by Verlasevic and Price made it a 63-61 game in favor of the Owls with 30 seconds to play. The Owls went on to hit three of their final four free throws of the game to hold off the Scots late.
The two teams would keep things close in the opening minutes of the first half as the game saw five lead changes and four ties over the first 10 minutes. Verlasevic broke a 20-20 tie with back-to-back jumpers in the lane as Lyon held a led the rest of the way and took a 28-24 advantage into the break.
Brookins finished with 19 points to lead the Owls offensively.
The Scots will look to bounce back on Saturday when they take on Columbia College in another AMC matchup at 3 p.m. inside Becknell Gymnasium.
Article via Lyon College Sports Information Director Matt Jagodzinski
Get up-to-date local and regional news along with the latest sports and weather every weekday morning by listening to Gary B. and Ozark Newsline on Arkansas 103.3 KWOZ, 93 KZLE, and other W.R.D. Entertainment radio stations. If you have a news tip or event to promote, email White River Now at news@whiterivernow.com. Be sure to like and follow White River Now on Facebook.
