No. 17 Panthers outgun Saint Joe's - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Box Score

Life in the Great Lakes Valley Conference is never easy, and, even in victory the 17th-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers were reminded of that on Saturday afternoon.

Before a small crowd at the Sportscenter, KWC defeated unranked Saint Joseph's 102-92, but the Panthers needed extraordinary performances from forward Chris Williams and backup point guard Travis Owsley to fend off the hot-shooting Pumas.

"They're a great-shooting basketball team -- they lead the conference in scoring for a reason," said Wesleyan coach Todd Lee, whose team had not surrendered more than 79 points coming in. "Also, they can go small and athletic, which creates some matchup problems for us at the defensive end.

"This is just the way it's going to be in this league, night in and night out. You better come to play, or you're going to lose. It's as simple as that."

Williams, a 6-foot-5 junior, finished with a career-high 28 points, hitting 3-of-4 shots from 3-point range and making 9-of-10 free throws as the Panthers (13-1, 2-0 GLVC) won their 13th consecutive game.

Owsley, meanwhile, entered the game at a pivotal juncture with 11:54 after senior star Desmond Stephens was assessed his fourth personal foul.

"We're really fortunate to have two point guards the caliber of Des and T.O.," Williams said. "That was a key point in the game, and Travis really ran the offense well. He stepped in and got the job done when they were making their big run."

The Pumas (6-5, 0-3) trailed by as many as 17 points early in the second half, but caught fire midway through the second half behind the 3-point shooting of reserve freshman guard Dayvon Sloan, who burned the Panthers with 6-of-9 accuracy from the beyond the arc.

Sloan hit two 3s in a 14-4 run that sliced KWC's once-comfortable lead to 73-70 with 9:32 to play.

Wesleyan answered, however, with a 17-3 spurt. Two free throws by Owsley at 6:11 capped the decisive run and pushed the Panthers in front 90-73.

Saint Joseph's refused to fold, however, continuing its marksmanship from long range and keeping things interesting the rest of the way.

"They're a streak-shooting team, and when they get on one of those good streaks they're a very, very dangerous club," Lee said. "They challenged us, and I'm proud of the way we answered the challenge. That's not the first or last time we'll have to do that this season."

KWC was in a dogfight for much of the first half.

With the game tied at 30 at 5:22, Marico Stinson converted a conventional three-point play to ignite a half-closing 15-2 run that left Wesleyan with a 45-32 lead at intermission.

In addition to Williams, who also had a game-best 10 rebounds, the Panthers got 20 points and seven assists from Stephens, 14 points and seven rebounds from junior center Jay Ivey, and 12 points from Stinson. Kwan Waller climbed off the bench to score nine points on 4-of-5 floor shooting, and Owsley was 7-of-7 from the foul stripe.

Sloan, a Louisville native, led St. Joseph's with 24 points. Austin Peebles scored 15, Marcus Jackson 13 and Michael Horton 10. The Pumas blistered the nets from 3-point range, draining 13-of-23 shots (57 percent).

Wesleyan, which shot 62 percent in the second half, overcame an early deficit on the boards to win the rebounding battle 30-23. The Panthers drilled 37-of-42 free throws (88 percent).

The Panthers host league foe Wisconsin-Parkside at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

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