ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Darrien Dickey's layup with 22 seconds left helped William Woods squeak past Missouri Baptist 73-68 Thursday night in the Spartans conference opener at Lacey Gymnasium.

The Spartans (3-4, 0-1) dropped their third straight game. The Owls (6-3, 3-0) used clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch to remain undefeated in conference play.

The back-and-forth battle featured four ties and eight lead changes, all in the second half. Missouri Baptist bounced back from a 10-point first half deficit to get within one point at halftime.

Two consecutive 3-pointers from Chris Buzzell and Will Harrington cut a 27-17 deficit to four points with 3:29 left in the opening half. The teams traded baskets down the final few minutes, before Harrington came through again with a basket at the buzzer to bring the Spartans within a point at 37-36 at the break.

Neither team led by more than five points in the neck-and-neck final 20 minutes. Harrington, who led Missouri Baptist with 16 points, tied the game for the first time at 40-40 with a basket at the 17:57 mark. After two consecutive turnovers, Harrington came through again with a bucket to give the Spartans their first lead of the game at 42-40 with 16:23 to go.

The Spartans largest lead was a 54-50 advantage with 8:36 to go. Five consecutive points from Buzzell put momentum in Missouri Baptist's favor. However, William Woods had an answer for every Spartan bucket on Thursday night.

Two free throws from Pablo Hernandez with 50 seconds left cut the deficit to 67-66. Bryan DeGeare air-balled a 3-pointer on the next possession, but Dickey was there to clean up the miss for the eventual game-winner.

Luke Call's 3-pointer missed short on the ensuing Spartan possession and William Woods hit all four of its free throws in the final 10 seconds to escape with a win.

Stephen Buckner and Buzzell joined Harrington in double figures with 13 each. Deon Pettigrew and Austin Lowery led the Owls with 21 points each.

 The Spartans will look for their first conference win Saturday afternoon at Lindenwood-Belleville. Tip is set for 4:00 pm. 

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