COLUMBUS – For the first time in program history, The W’s men’s basketball team is headed to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Conference tournament with a bye and the No. 2 seed. That feat came courtesy of something no other SLIAC team managed to do all season – defeat Webster University.
After a solid run through the regular season, the Owls secured their place in postseason play on Saturday with an 80-60 upset victory over the visiting Gorloks, who came into the contest unbeaten (15-0) in conference games. What’s more, Saturday’s game wasn’t even close.
The Owls held the Gorloks’ offense to just 27.03% shooting from the floor in the first half as they built a 37-22 lead at the break. Webster turned the ball over 10 times for 18 points on extra possessions for the Owls, who outscored their foe 43-38 the rest of the way. The W had four players reach double-digit points behind a 55% mark from the floor, and Tray Huguley and Joe Haze Austin stood at the top of the leaderboard with 23 points each. Huguley, who leads the conference in points scored (523), also yanked down 11 rebounds for his program-record 16th double-double. Austin drained two shots from deep and added seven makes from the free-throw line to close out a night in which the team was a perfect 17-of-17 from the stripe. Tyler Shephard was right behind with 13 points and eight rebounds. Trent Walker rounded out the team’s top scorers with 11 points and 11 rebounds to help the squad (15-10, 11-5) clinch its highest-ever seeding in the SLIAC tournament.
The W’s women’s basketball team (6-18, 5-11) ended its season on Saturday with a 68-53 loss to Webster.
In their first matchup in January, Webster got the best of the Owls, 74-67. In that game The W got limited minutes from top scorer Huguley, who was nursing a high-ankle sprain, and still only lost by seven points. With a much healthier team for the second go-around, head coach Dean Burrows said his Owls were confident they could be the ones to hand the Gorloks their first defeat of the year.
“We had an opportunity on their floor to beat them there, and when we were coming off the floor, I told our guys when we walked through the line, looking at their coaches and their players, that they didn’t want anything to do with us. They knew they took one that night. So, you don’t have to say much to get guys going when you have the number one team coming in with the opportunity for a bye. That’s what we were focusing on – what we have to do, not necessarily their record.”
The win cemented the best run through a regular season in program history, and the Owls did it with just nine players and a total of four coaches – two are graduate assistants and one is a student assistant – on their roster. In comparison, Webster has 21 players and six coaches. A limited roster has been a gift of sorts for Burrows and the Owls. There hasn’t been any confusion on who to go to or who to put on the floor in tight moments. Burrows knows who to call on when the moment arises.
“Most coaches this time of year, most programs, they are trying to fine-tune what their rotations are going to be because you don’t want to be playing nine, 10 or 11 guys this time of year. You want to go with your guys and we’ve been doing it all year,” he said.
Rarified air
The Owls will play the second-lowest seed remaining in the SLIAC semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in St. Louis for a chance to play for the conference championship. The tournament, hosted by Webster University, began yesterday with No. 3 seed Lyon College playing No. 6 Blackburn and with No. 4 Spalding University taking on No. 5 Greenville University.
“I knew coming in when we put this group together we would have a chance. Preseason polls don’t mean Jack-you-know-what to me, and they shouldn’t to anybody, but we talked all year about flipping the SLIAC on its head, turning it upside down, and that’s what our guys have done. But now the tournament starts and everybody is 0-0 and everybody is looking to continue this and find a way to have practice on Friday.”
And for the Owls, that’s really what it’s all about – earning a chance to keep practicing and spending time together. Limited in number, those who make up the team have grown close throughout the season and created a brotherhood they want to keep going as long as possible. And that’s in stark contrast with last year’s group, according to senior forward Trent Walker.
Last season, The W took a three-game losing streak to the conference tournament, where it finished off its campaign at 12-14 overall with a 76-59 loss to Eureka in the conference quarterfinals. This time around, the Owls are riding a wave of five straight victories into the postseason along with the desire to keep playing at all costs.
“It’s just the fight for one more,” Walker said. “I don’t think any of us are ready for it to be over, per se, but I think it’s been a long season and I think we want to end it the way we envisioned it at the beginning of the season.”
A win on Thursday would bring a lot of firsts for the program; first tournament win, first championship game appearance. A win in the championship game would be the Owls’ first and would put them in the Division III NCAA basketball tournament, another feat they’ve never accomplished. Burrows admitted all of it would mean a lot to the program, but doesn’t like to think that far ahead.
“That’s down the road,” he said. “We just have to have a good (practice) today at 3 (p.m.)”
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