Eagles Quell Patriot Comeback in Road Victory

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (1/17/26) – The Williams Baptist University men's basketball team survived a late rally from Mission to take a 95-85 win on the road inside W.E. Dowell Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

As a unit, WBU went 38-of-77 (49.4 percent) from the field while holding Mission to a 39.2 percent clip on the day.  WBU won the rebound battle 50-41 and knocked down seven three-pointers.

Deion Wesson led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field.  Jesse Washington followed up with a double-double on 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Aseem Luckey posted his third straight double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Benjamin Noonan scored 14 points from the bench.

After Mission scored the first basket of the game, Kylen Kelly tied the game with a jumper and kickstarted a 15-2 run to put the Eagles ahead 15-4 in the first five minutes.  Aseem Luckey capped off another 19-3 run that put Williams ahead 40-16 with 5 and a half minutes to play in the first half.  Mission cut the lead to 16 before the end of the first half as WBU went into the locker room ahead 49-33.

After Benjamin Noonan put the Eagles ahead by 18 with a jump shot to begin the second half, the Patriots went on an 11-0 run to close the gap to eight points with 13:40 left to play.  A three from Najee Williams brought the Patriots within five a minute later.  

The Eagles responded to the rally with a 17-7 swing to push the advantage back up to 83-68 with five minutes to play.  Mission attempted one final run with a 9-2 push with under three minutes to go, but a score from Washington quenched the run to give Williams the road victory.

The Eagles' seventh straight win gives the team a 14-2 record overall and 4-1 mark in American Midwest Conference play.  Next, WBU will travel to face Central Baptist on Thursday, Jan. 22.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from A.R. Reddin Fieldhouse in Conway, Ark.