WWU men’s basketball tops Westminster in first-ever meeting between the two Fulton programs

William Woods' and Westminster College's men's basketball teams meet on the court for a photo opportunity with Toys for Tots before the game Monday night at Anderson Arena in Fulton. (Courtesy/William Woods Athletics)
William Woods' and Westminster College's men's basketball teams meet on the court for a photo opportunity with Toys for Tots before the game Monday night at Anderson Arena in Fulton. (Courtesy/William Woods Athletics)

In a jam-packed Anderson Arena with a large swell of supporters from both schools, William Woods men's basketball thrived on its home court, beating crosstown Westminster College 79-47 Monday night in Fulton.

While it was a one-sided Owls victory, the sides came together to support a cause greater than the game -- toys for the less fortunate children in the Callaway County community.

Both schools supported Toys for Tots by collecting toys and stuffed animals, and the proceeds from the game went towards the program. In addition, fans who brought a toy or stuffed animal to the contest got in for free.

The toys theme didn't stop there, as both sets of supporters hurled teddy bears onto the court at halftime and were encouraged to throw them far as possible.

Before the teddy bear extravaganza ensued, the entertainment was what happened on the court.

The Owls led 36-23 through the first 20 minutes with stout defense and excellent shooting.

William Woods shot 46.9% from the field in the first half, while Westminster converted 25% of its field goals.

It was a team effort during the half for the Owls, as seven of their players scored -- with Nathan Schwartze recording a team-high nine points -- and five players on the assist chart -- Darius Yohe led the way with three.

"I talked about a lot of little goals that we set," William Woods coach Charles Belt said. "One of the other things we talked about together, we like to have double-digit assists. We rake in 13 assists today, but we got to the line; we shot 23 free throws. So on some of those passes that would have been baskets, we got fouled. So I still credit those as opportunities for assists. Our goal is 15, so we were right there."

Yohe also got it done on the defensive side in the first half, registering seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

"He's probably the most unique player on our team," Belt said. "I mean, he can do everything. He can guard one through five. He can guard centers. He can guard guards. He's an elite shot blocker, and at 6'10, there's just not many guys that are that versatile.

"And as a team, our defensive presence is 100% based around what he does for us. Without him on the floor, we're a different defense. And he is the integral reason why we're able to do the things we do defensively."

Speaking of rebounds, blocks and steals, William Woods' defense did that throughout the first half (and the second half). The Owls had already notched two rebounds, a block and a steal through the first 1:56 of the game.

"For us, defense is the first thing that we do," Belt said. "Last year, we were the fifth-ranked defense in the country. In my time here, we've never not been top 10. So that's our pride. That's our bread and butter. That's what we do.

"And we came into this game with a goal that we were going to hold them under 65. Our guys trumped me on that one, held (Westminster) to 47."

On the offensive side, William Woods started the game hot, going on a 14-0 run over five minutes to take a 16-point lead with 11:51 on the clock, 21-5. Westminster broke its silence with a Jaxon Althaus 3-pointer and cut the game to 12.

The Owls instantly responded and brought the game back to a 15-point deficit when Mike Robinson made a 3-pointer from the left corner. The theme of Westminster trying to limit the damage and William Woods responding repeated throughout the game.

A 6-0 run with four points from Abdulh Diaby gave the Owls a 20-point lead with five minutes remaining. However, the Blue Jays ended the half with a 6-0 run to cut the game to 13 heading into halftime, 36-23.

"We didn't execute our offense for the whole part (of the first half)," Westminster coach Todd Creal said. "But for a little stretch there, we did. And their pressure had a lot to do with that. And they're very athletic and long, and they're very good players. But we just kind of wilted away from the pressure a little bit. We just didn't get into our stuff, but for a stretch there we did, and we made free throws."

The teddy bear toss may have been the halftime show, but William Woods' players put on one themselves.

The Owls dunked the ball a handful of times, with the highlight being a Schwartze alley-oop pass from behind the left of the arc to Spencer Yoggerst, who slammed the ball into the hoop with two hands.

"Spencer is another big-body guard that can play above the rim," Belt said. "This year, our pace is why our athleticism is really showing up. And when you play just a little bit faster. We don't want to be out of control -- when you play a little faster -- you open up the door for some of those athletes to really show what they can do in the open court. And I think that's what fans are starting to see."

Focusing on how the second half unfolded, the Owls went on an early 9-0 run in the second half with five points from Fred Robinson to put them up 55-30 with 13:20 to play.

On a William Woods team full of veterans, Robison -- a freshman -- scored a team-high 17 points while shooting an impressive 5-of-10 from the field and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.

"The big thing for him is he's on a four-game tear that's been phenomenal," Belt said. "And one thing that I always said --I love recruiting freshmen -- is that at some point, freshmen no longer are freshmen, and mentally they don't play like freshmen. They don't think like freshmen, and he's had that breakthrough. And so the game slowed down for him. He's able to see where he needs to go, and he puts in work.

"I've gone on record million times. I think he's a freshman of the year. ...I haven't found a freshman in our conference that's even close."

While Robison was the leading offensive player in the second half, the Owls spread their scoring around as they did in the first half.

A jumper from Yoggerst with 5:18 on the clock brought the Owls' lead to 29, and a 3-pointer from Dylan Pitt two minutes later gave the Owls a 77-46 advantage.

Kevin Yang hit the game's final bucket to give the Owls their largest lead, 79-47.

It may have been a struggle for the Blue Jays to do much of anything, but there were some solid individual performances for them.

Althaus was Westminster's main threat to William Woods. The senior finished the game with 11 points, six rebounds and an assist.

"When we don't run our offense, he kind of takes it upon himself to try to get shots," Creal said. "Against their longer, bigger guys, him taking those shots without offense. We ran a nice play, we run a flat-screen play where we had the high posts, and then he ran off of it, got a wide-open look at his feature set, and he made it. We run into few shots like that; he's a 40-plus percent 3-point shooter. We just run down, and he's gonna try to do it on his own without the screen or whatever, and then that gets a little hard on him. Still, he's an awfully good player."

Brennan Jeffries was another Blue Jay who played well on Monday. Jeffries was lethal from deep, making 2-of-3 3-point shots while scoring nine points.

"He wants to win," Creal said. "He's a competitor. He's a coach's son. He hadn't shot well up until this point. But tonight, knocking down two 3's that's a positive in the right direction for him. He's really one of our best post-up players."

Supporting the community

Regardless of the win or loss that went toward each team's record, both Belt and Creel felt it was an exciting game between Fulton's two colleges

Monday's contest wasn't just a one-off game between the programs. Westminster will host William Woods next season, with the game taking place around Thanksgiving like it did this season.

Belt and Creel each stressed that the William Woods - Westminster matchup isn't a rivalry -- instead, it's for the community.

"Westminister - Woods hadn't played each other so to be able to get this game scheduled, do it for the community," Belt said. "We want to make sure we took off that edge of a rivalry. We're not rivals. They don't recruit the same players we recruit. They're not in the same conference and under the same division, right? So I wanted to take that away. I didn't want people to come in thinking it's 'Woods vs. Westmo,' that's not realistic; that's not the reality. And it's great to do it around this event because I think it reminds everybody of the reason why we played this game."

For Creal, the Toys for Tots program hit home as a father of two children.

"I have a soft spot in my heart for kids," Creal said. "...This is a great time of year for kids, but some people don't have the resources to be able to give their kids what they want to give them. If we can step in ourselves and William Woods can step in and help those families in Callaway County with Toys for Tots and Callaway Cares and most things, you know that we want to do that, we need to do that."

Up next

Looking ahead, William Woods (4-4, 0-1 American Midwest Conference) stays in town for its AMC home opener against Health Sciences Pharmacy (0-9, 0-2 AMC) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Anderson Arena.

"When we had our home winning streak in the regular season, they're the team that ended it," Belt said. "They came in here, played really well. We only lost two games at home last year, and then when we return the favor in the playoffs. But we know in the regular season we own them, and so that's going to be the approach. I don't care about their record. I don't care about anybody's record. You look at our record three games ago, we were 1-4, and we were probably one of the best in 1-4 teams in the country. So records don't matter. We're gonna go into Thursday, and we have to hold down home court."

Meanwhile, Westminster (0-5) will take on Central Bible (2-5) in its home opener at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Historical Gymnasium.

"They're a team with a lot of pride," Creal said. "They play really hard. We got them at their place last year. They're coming to our place. We're 0-5; we got a little sense of desperation. I think we've got to have that in the next two practices. But we got to make sure that we come ready because we'll have for the first time all year in five games, we'll have the size advantage for the first time. ...But that doesn't automatically lead to a win. We got to play better. We got to run our offense. But they're well coached, and being just in Moberly with a lot of Missouri guys, it'll be a good home opener."