WBU’s Second Half Rally Falls Short in Road Tilt With Eutectics

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (2/7/26) – The Williams Baptist University men's basketball team battled back from down 20 points early in the second half, but could not complete the rally in an 81-75 loss to UHSP on Saturday afternoon inside the UHSP Gymnasium.

Jesse Washington led the Eagles with 24 points on the day.  Deion Wesson followed up with a double-double on 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Benjamin Noonan posted 15 off the bench.

As a team, WBU went 26-of-78 (33.3 percent) from the field while UHSP shot a red-hot 30-of-54 (55.6 percent).  Williams struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 2-of-18 from three-point range.  UHSP won the rebound battle 41-38, but WBU went +16 on turnover differential to score 30 points off turnovers.

The Eutectics got off to a quick 7-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game before Noonan scored the Eagles first points.  Another 7-0 Eutectic swing put UHSP up by 10 with just under 12 minutes to go.  UHSP continued to add on to take a 45-27 lead into halftime.

UHSP extended its lead to a game-high 20 points after a three-pointer made it 48-28.  A 9-2 run from WBU cut the lead to 13 and forced a UHSP timeout.  The Eagles continued to surge later in the second half with a 14-0 run capped off by a jumper from Christ Theodor that cut the deficit to 67-64.  

An 8-1 UHSP run pushed the Eutectics by 11 with 1:50 left to play.  Jesse Washington made five free throws to cut the lead to four, but the Eagle rally fell short in the 81-75 loss.

The loss drops WBU to 17-4 overall and 7-3 in American Midwest Conference play.  The Eagles return to the home floor on Thursday, Feb. 12 against Harris-Stowe.  Tipoff against the Hornets is set for 7:30 p.m. from inside the Southerland-Mabee Center.