The No. 19 WWU Owls took control behind a 22-10 run in the second half and outlasted the College of Ozarks Bobcats in Tuesday night's non-conference victory at Anderson Arena.
William Woods University trailed 31-29 at the break, but shot a sizzling 63 percent (20-of-32) in the second half to raise its season record to 13-5.
Senior guard Deon Pettigrew launched the Owls' pivotal run when his conventional three-point play with 12 minutes, 58 seconds left in the game put William Woods in front to stay at 44-43. Pettigrew punctuated the surge on a basket in the lane with 4:24 to go, pushing the Owls' advantage to 63-53.
Pettigrew then connected on two free throws with 1:34 remaining to give William Woods a 74-63 lead.
Pettigrew - who made 6-of-8 shots and 5-of-7 free throws - produced 13 of his 17 points in the second half to pace the Owls. Senior forward Trey Mitchell and senior forward Torin Washington also supplied 16 points apiece as William Woods shot 51 percent (31-of-61) for the game.
Junior forward Brandon Vice collected a team-high nine rebounds to help give the Owls a 32-30 edge on the boards.
Cameron Paschke - who was 3-of-5 from 3-point range - logged a game-high 18 points to guide four players in double figures for College of the Ozarks (9-7). DeMon Hyler added 17 points, Ethan Davidson provided 11 and Kiefer Starbird had 10 as the Bobcats shot 47 percent (27-of-57) as a team.
William Woods remains at home for an American Midwest Conference showdown against No. 6 Columbia College at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Owls are 7-3 in the AMC.