Eagles Fall in Tight Battle With Little Rock in Exhibition Matchup

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (12/22/25) – The Williams Baptist University men's basketball team battled Little Rock to a 98-84 final score in an exhibition matchup inside the Jack Stephens Center on Monday night.

Deion Wesson led the team with 32 points on 13-of-26 (50.0 percent) shooting from the field, and led the team with 10 rebounds on the night to finish with a double-double.

Jesse Washington followed up with 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including seven three-pointers.  Benjamin Noonan also finished in double figures with 13  points in the game.

As a team, Williams shot 30-for-69 (43.5 percent) from the field and 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) from three-point range.  Little Rock out-rebounded WBU 43-35, but the Eagles led on forced turnovers with 21.

Little Rock opened the game with a 10-2 run, and ballooned that lead to 20-10 with 11:59 left in the first half.  The Eagles responded with a 14-4 run of their own in 4:40 to tie the game at 24-24.  

The Trojans pushed the lead back out to 10, but the Eagles crawled back once again when a Deion Wesson layup brought the Eagles back within a bucket at 39-37.  The Eagles finished the first half on a 12-6 run to make the score 43-41 going into halftime.

The two teams traded baskets to begin the second half until the Trojans exploded for a 12-3 run that proved to be the difference.  Foul trouble undid the Eagles in the second half, as the Trojans made 18 trips to the charity stripe in the second period.

WBU outscored Little Rock 16-9 in the final four and a half minutes, but were unable to dig out of the hole.  Jesse Washington hit a buzzer-beater three before the final horn to set the final score at 98-84. 

The Eagles will return to the floor to close out non-conference play Jan. 3 on the road against Rust.  Tipoff against the Bearcats is set for 3 p.m. from Holly Springs, Miss.