FAYETTEVILLE — As far as debuts go, Payton Willis’ first game at Bulldog Arena will be hard to match.
Willis, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, rallied Fayetteville from a three-point halftime deficit Monday with 10 third-quarter points and sparked a 9-0 run as the Bulldogs won their basketball home opener against Springfi eld (Mo.) Parkview, 47-39.
Trailing 20-17 at half and 26-22 with 5 minutes, 3 seconds left in the third quarter, Willis scored six of the next nine points as Fayetteville (2-0) took the lead for good. He finished with a game-high 24, 17 of which came after halftime.
“Payton is definitely what makes us go offensively, because he’s so unselfish,” Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said. “He’s capable of this, but for the most part he’d rather pass than shoot. I always tell all of them this, in practice if you make the first one you’ve got to make sure you’re going to make the second and third one. And tonight he kind of got it going.”
Willis finished 10 of 12 from the field, 8 of 9 on 2-point attempts and 2-for-3 on three-pointers, and also added four steals and one assist.
Fayetteville struggled with a matchup zone defense shown by Parkview (0-1) in the first half, but adjusted to finish 6-for-13 as a team from 3-point range. The Bulldogs, who shot 59 percent from the floor in the second half, led by as a much as 44-30 in the fourth quarter.
“We kind of play similar styles, and this being our first game when things got a little tight we didn’t necessarily focus the way we should,” Parkview coach Bill Brown said. “But you have to give Fayetteville credit. Their defensive intensity picked up and they started hitting some shots.”
Mason Adams added 10 points for the Bulldogs, hitting 3 of 4 three-pointers, and Luke Renner also chipped in with five points.
Autry Accord led the Vikings with 15 points.
Fayetteville visits Fort Smith Northside today.