Chris Deanes made two free throws with 9 seconds left as the Lindenwood-Belleville Lynx shut down the WWU Owls' seven-game winning streak in Tuesday night's AMC matchup at Anderson Arena.
William Woods University's stay in the national rankings also may be brief. The Owls (11-4, 6-2 American Midwest Conference) entered the NAIA poll earlier Tuesday at No. 19 after their 85-78 AMC home victory over then-No. 12 Park University on Saturday.
William Woods took a narrow 53-52 lead into halftime Tuesday night and increased its lead to four points when junior guard Jonny Woolf buried a 3-pointer with 19 minutes, 18 seconds to play in the game. Lindenwood-Belleville University, though, answered with an 11-0 run, building a 63-56 advantage on Braden Fitzjerrells' 3 at the 17:43 mark.
The Lynx twice led by six points before the Owls used an 8-3 run to tie the game. Senior forward Trey Mitchell's basket in the paint pulled William Woods even at 76-all with 8:26 remaining. Lindenwood-Belleville went back in front and opened up an 87-80 lead on another 3-pointer from Fitzjerrells with 4:25 to go.
The Owls rallied again behind an 8-0 run, edging on top at 88-87 when Mitchell connected on a 3 with :18 left. Deanes, however, halted William Woods' win streak when he was fouled and proceeded to sink both free throws, the last of his game-high 28 points.
Junior guard DaShaun Stark was 8-of-14 from the field and logged 24 points to direct three players in double figures for the Owls, who shot 48 percent (31-of-64) from the field but just 67 percent (20-of-30) from the foul line. Mitchell - the reigning AMC player of the week - made 8-of-12 shots in finishing with 19 points and junior forward Brandon Vice supplied 14.
Vice also collected a team-high seven rebounds as both teams ended in a 39-all deadlock on the boards.
Deanes spurred five players in double figures for the Lynx (11-3, 5-2), who shot 44 percent (30-of-68) as a team. Fitzjerrells followed with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range, while TJ Jackson contributed 14 points, David Shepard had 13 and Sean McGee contributed 10.
William Woods takes a trip to Arkansas for an AMC contest with Williams Baptist College at 7:30 tonight.