Eagles Fall to Bearcats in Overtime

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. (11/18/24) – The Williams Baptist University men's basketball team fought hard late but was unable to come away with a win on Monday night, falling 83-79 to Brescia in overtime inside the Southerland-Mabee Center.

Amarion Wilson led the team with a career-high 19 points on 8-for-18 from the field.  Trahe Qualls and Elisha Cofield finished in the double digits as well with 13 and 11, respectively.  Wilson tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight alongside Charles Brown Jr. and Rico Quinton.

As a team, the Eagles shot 41.8 percent on 28-for-67 from the field, including 33.3 percent from three on 9-for-27.  WBU edged Brescia in rebounds 42-39, while the Bearcats enjoyed a 20-17 advantage in points off turnovers.

WBU owned a 29-28 lead at the end of the first half after a Cofield layup with 19 seconds on the clock.

Both offenses exploded in the second half, with WBU shooting 48.3 percent from the field on 14-for-29 and Brescia shooting 56.7 percent on 17-for-30.  

After Brescia took the lead back at the start of the second half, WBU held strong despite not overtaking the Bearcats on the scoreboard.  A Jordan Johnson layup brought the Eagles within two, but Brescia used a 6-0 run to push the advantage back to eight.  A Wilson three-pointer brought the game within four with two minutes to play, but the Bearcats pushed the lead back to six with a pair of free throws.

Down 68-62 with 39 seconds to play, DJ Townsend hit a jumper to bring it within four.  Then, the Eagles forced a turnover and Jordan Johnson drew the foul on a three-point attempt.  The Bearcats added two more shots with a technical foul, and Johnson hit four of five at the charity stripe to tie the game at 68.

Damian Garcia got a bucket and a foul at the other end to put the Bearcats up three with five seconds on the clock.  Wilson, with no time remaining, drilled the three and drew the foul to tie the game at 71 and send the game to overtime.

Trahe Qualls put the Eagles up two in overtime with a layup and Brown Jr. added another point at the free throw line, but a 7-0 run put the Bearcats up 80-76.  Wilson hit another big three to bring Williams within one with 12 seconds remaining, but two Linkin Lockhart free throws iced the game for the visitors 83-79.

The Eagles fall to 3-2 overall on the season.  Next, Williams will begin conference play at home against Harris-Stowe State on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. inside the Southerland-Mabee Center.