With the lights the brightest they’ve ever been, and the stakes raised to a level never before seen in program history, MUW’s men’s basketball team stepped onto the hardwood Thursday and triumphantly seized the moment.

In the program’s first-ever appearance in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference semifinals, the No. 2-seeded Owls left no doubt they belonged in today’s championship game by dismantling Lyon College 80-58 in a showing of complete domination.

Led by SLIAC Player of the Year Tray Huguley’s 27 points, four Owls scored double-digit points and bested the Scots in just about every category. MUW won the battle for the boards 40-32, racked up 10 steals for 21 points off turnovers, owned the paint with 44 points scored down low and the ball was on string all night to the tune of 16 assists, though the squad did commit 18 turnovers. The Owls (16-10, 11-5) feasted on points with a 57.4% success rate in shooting from the floor while the Scots were held to just 33.3% – 25.93% in the first half.

“We felt that our guys came out defensively and more than effectively executed the game plan on that end,” head coach Dean Burrows said. “To be plus-14 on the glass against that team is the difference and shows a level of toughness that we haven’t seen, maybe all season long. We emphasized keeping them off the glass and out of the paint. We got on all statistical categories of emphasis except for the assist-to-turnover ratio, which must be better come Saturday. I am beyond proud of our group of ten for the connectivity and heart that they played with all night long, both on and off the floor.”

Two early makes from deep by SLIAC Defensive Player of the Year Joe Haze Austin got the Owls rolling to a 14-3 run to start the first half and it was cruise control from there. The W led 43-22 at halftime and got ahead by as much as 28 points early in the second half before the Scots began to find some buckets and thwart some of the Owls shots – but it was too little, too late.

The squads traded blows to end the game, going bucket for bucket, but the hole stood far too deep for Lyon to climb and it had to watch as The W celebrated the continuation of its season.

Austin finished second in scoring with 19 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals, Trent Walker added 13 points, eight boards, three assists and two steals and Tyler Shephard went 2-for-2 from behind the arc for 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

MUW’s first-ever postseason victory earned them the right to play No. 1-seed Webster University today at 1 p.m. in St. Louis, Mo. The Gorloks defeated Spalding University 79-43 to gain entrance into the championship bout, which features the no-doubt two best teams left standing in the conference.

MUW ranks third in the SLIAC in scoring (82.5 ppg), and Webster is second (83.0 ppg). The W leads the conference – and all of NCAA Division III – in field-goal percentage at 52.25%, and the Gorloks (23-3, 15-1) are second league-wide at 49.4%. The game will also feature two of the SLIAC’s best scorers in Huguley and the Gorloks’ Charles Nelson, who is third with an average of 18.4 points a game.

The two teams squared off twice this season and split the games. Webster took the first matchup 74-67 with Huguley missing most of the contest with an injury. Then The W shocked the conference by handing Webster its first loss in league play – an 80-60 walloping on Feb. 21. The winner of the conference championship goes on to play in the NCAA Division III tournament. There’s a lot of glory to win on the court, but Burrows said his team isn’t focused on all the extra dramatics that come with a championship match. It’s yet another game on the schedule the Owls are looking to win .

“It’s the biggest game of the year just because it’s the next game for us,” he said. “We try to break things down into one-game seasons and it’s the biggest game in program history simply because it’s the next game. I know that might sound cliche or coach speak, but that’s really how I try to get our guys wired to focus on what’s next. We haven’t played our most important game yet, and that’s every game, every opportunity. (Today) is one opportunity of one; you have to earn the right for the next one.”