Eagles Late Rally Falls Short Against Hendrix

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. (12/18/23) - The Williams Baptist men's basketball team lost to Hendrix College 83-72 in a non-conference basketball matchup Monday afternoon at the Southerland-Mabee Center. 

Ben Keton and DJ Townsend led Williams with 14 points each, while Duke Hardin added 12 and Cory Sanders finished with 10. EJ Johnson and Keton tied for the team lead with six rebounds each, while TJ Clardy and Townsend dished out four assists each.

The Eagles controlled the pace early in the contest and held a 15-10 with 11:10 to go in the first half, but a 10-2 run from the Warriors gave them a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the afternoon. 

Hendrix shot 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from beyond the arc while Williams knocked down just 25 percent (7-of-28) of its attempts. The gap proved pivotal at the halftime break when the Warriors led 30-24 and had knocked down three more shots from beyond the 3-point line than the Eagles to build their advantage.

In the second half, Hendrix methodically built a double-digit lead and held its largest lead at 56-38 with 12:06 to go. Williams refused to go quietly however, and slowly began to work its way back into the contest behind the play of Keton, Hardin, Sanders and Townsend.

Hardin got the Eagles within 73-62 late in the contest and Keton got the Eagles to 75-68 with 1:17 left that forced a timeout by the Warriors. 

WBU attempted to trap out of the timeout, but committed a foul and the Warriors knocked down both free throws. A missed a 3' on the offensive end and another trip to the free throw line that resulted in two more made free throws for Hendrix pushed  the lead back to double-digits with under a minute to play and the WBU comeback attempt was squashed. 

Williams will not return to the court until the new year when they will take on Bethel in McKenzie, Tenn., on Jan. 4.