Eagles Edge Hornets in Road Victory

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (1/15/26) – The Williams Baptist University men's basketball team surged in the second half to scrape by Harris-Stowe inside Emerson Performance Center on Thursday night by the final score of 91-87.

Deion Wesson led all scorers in the contest with 35 points on the night, with 16 of those points coming at the free throw line, while Jesse Washington followed up with 21 points.  Rico Quinton put up a double-double off the bench on 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Benjamin Noonan also finished in double figures with 10 points.

The Eagles struggled from the field on 27-of-76 (35.5 percent) shooting and 6-of-25 (24.0 percent) from three-point range, but set the program record for most rebounds in a single game with 65 to win the battle on the glass.  The contest featured 11 ties and 14 lead changes.

Both teams traded buckets throughout the first 10 minutes of the contest.  Two free throws from Deion Wesson gave WBU a 6-point lead with 10:32 to play, but HSSU fired back with a 12-0 run to go up 26-19.  A slam from Wesson brought Williams within one, but the Eagles did not get any closer as the Hornets took a 42-37 lead into the locker room. 

WBU responded quickly to begin the second half when a Wesson trey and Luckey jumper tied the game at 42-42 after 45 seconds.  The two squads traded buckets, and Jesse Washington tied the game at 50-50 into the first media timeout of the second half.   

A four-point swing from the Hornets forced WBU to continue playing from behind, as the Eagles came within one point multiple times but could not take the lead back until Jesse Washington buried two free throws to put the Eagles up 68-67 with 10:52 to play.  

A made free throw from HSSU's Kevin Jones capped off a 5-point Hornet swing and tied the game at 5:00 to play after the final media timeout. After trading buckets, the Hornets took a one-point lead on a three-point play with 46 seconds left.

After a timeout, Aseem Luckey hit a jumper to put the Eagles up 88-87, then stole the ball away on the other end to send Deion Wesson to the line.  Wesson sank both free throws to put WBU up three.  The Hornets put the game-tying three-point attempt in the air with eight seconds on the clock, but drew iron as WBU put the game on ice for the road victory.

The win moves WBU to 13-2 overall and 3-1 in American Midwest Conference play.  Next, the Eagles will travel to Springfield, Mo. to face Mission on Saturday, Jan. 17.  Tipoff against the Patriots is set for 3 p.m. from W.E. Dowell Fieldhouse.