DJ Johnson made sure the William Woods University Owls made it to the next round of the American Midwest Conference postseason tournament.
The senior forward's basket with 29 seconds to play put William Woods in front to stay and the No. 8 seed Owls went on to eliminate No. 9 Hannibal-LaGrange University in a 67-62 first-round victory Tuesday night at Anderson Arena.
William Woods (12-19) - ending a two-game losing streak - advances to a quarterfinal matchup at AMC regular-season champion and top seed Freed-Hardeman University at 7 p.m. Thursday. Freed-Hardeman (25-3), which received a first-round bye, is ranked No. 4 in NAIA Division I.
Hannibal-LaGrange, which went scoreless in the final 2 minutes, 30 seconds Tuesday night, finished the season with an 8-20 record.
Johnson - who tied the game at 62-all by making two free throws with 1:33 left - gave the Owls the lead for good when he dropped in his jumper in the lane. Senior forward Nate Bitner then made it 65-62 when he hit the back end of a pair of free throws with :15 to go.
Sophomore guard Alec Mulvihill put the finishing touches on William Woods' victory when he connected on two free throws with :10 to play.
Johnson - who was 10-of-14 from the field - tallied a game-high 23 points to guide four players in double figures for the Owls, who shot 42 percent (22-of-53) as a team. Junior guard Austin Lowery added 14 points, while Bitner and freshman forward Darrien Dickey both contributed 10.
Dickey also collected a game-high 10 rebounds to carry William Woods to a 38-25 advantage on the boards.
Jay Jones answered with 21 points to lead Hannibal-LaGrange, which shot 48 percent (23-of-48) from the field. Wyatt Stephens chipped in with 16 points.
The Owls bowed in both of their meetings with Freed-Hardeman during the regular season. William Woods lost to the Lions 74-53 on Dec. 16 in Fulton and 78-62 on Feb. 7 in Henderson, Tennessee.