Park University's men's basketball program started of the new season with the Remy Williams Memorial Invitational Tournament on Friday and Saturday, falling to both No. 7 Georgetown College and William Woods University.

Georgetown was undefeated throughout the tournament and improve to 2-0, as was William Woods who improved to 3-0. Both Heart of America Athletic Conference teams, Park and Benedictine begin the season 0-2.

The Tigers are a historic program with 43 seasons going to the NAIA National Tournament and currently have  streak of 33 tournament appearances in a row. Remington Williams a graduate of Georgetown College was a student assistant for the team when they won the national championship in 2013. The Tigers won their third title in 2019 before Remy's passing in 2022 in a fatal car accident due to an unfortunate drunk driving incident. Remy's legacy still lives on through the Remy Williams Foundation, who has already impacted the community through homeless outreach and starting Academia del Legado de Remy (Remy's Legacy Academy) in small villages in Guatemala. The academy serves 40 children and currently has a waiting list. This tournament serves to highlight the important story of Remy and partner with the foundation in the meaningful work they do.

Georgetown College Box Score | L, 51-82
Georgetown began the game with a 5-0 run that Park could not recover from. Despite bringing the score within two points on multiple occasions, there were never any lead changes in the game. Jacob Barnett and Jasigha Barnes got to work, helping Park to a 7-2 run over a two-minute stretch to make it 17-12. Barnett hit a three-pointer in that span and led Park with eight points in the first half. A scoop and score by Shawndale Ross and a offensive board and put back by Jaden Robinson cut the lead to 23-21 with 8 minutes remaining in the half. Barnes came up big for Park again with a two-point jumper and a make from three-point range to make it 27-26. In the last four minutes of the half, the Tigers kept the Pirates at bay to end the opening half, 37-32.

An and-one by Georgetown began the second half to lead by 8 points. Park did what they could to make up ground and the Pirates were within five points on a Tyler Burrows lay-up and a Christian Bradford layup with 14:27 remaining. A timely three by Georgetown brought it back to an eight-point spread immediately following though. As the half progressed, the Tigers reached their largest lead of 11 points at the 2:05 mark on the clock. The Pirates did not shoot a bad clip by any stretch at 48.4-percent from the field, 33.3-percent from three, and 13-of-17 from the free throw line in the second half, but Georgetown did not make many mistakes at 62.1-percent from the field, 66.7- percent from range, and 11-of-14 from the stripe. With five-point leads in each half, Georgetown moved on to an 88-78 win.

The rebounding was in favor of the Tigers at 43 to 22. They also had 12 more points in the paint and six more second chance points.

The Pirates had the defense working that led to 15 more points off of 18 Georgetown turnovers, while only coughing up eight turnovers themselves.

On the day, Park shot 45.2-percent from the field and matched Georgetown with seven three-pointers. The free-throws were also close 17 makes for the Tigers and 15 for Park, and the percentages were at 68-percent to 62.5-percent respectively.

Barnett had a great first game against the No. 7 team in the nation with 27 points and a team-leading four made three-pointers.

Abubakar Kromah and Barnes were in double-figures as well with 17 and 10 points. Kromah also led the Pirates in rebounding with six for the game.

Ross made an impact on the game with nine points, four assists, and three steals. Burrows led Park with four assists in the game.

William Woods Box Score | L, 64-65
Park soon will restore conference ties with William Wood in 2025-26, but got the sneak peek of the former American Midwest Conference foe on Saturday.

Park led by nine points in the first half, but overall this game was close though and through, marked by toughness on both sides. Bradford and Barnett gave the Pirates a 4-0 lead out of the shoot, but then the Owls also got their run of four points to tie. A 9-0 run covering 2:19 gave Park a 16-7 lead with Tristan McRoberts capping off the run with a two-point jump shot. A 13-3 scoring run was the response by Owls, as three three-pointers landed to overtake Park 20-19 with 5:04 to go. Kromah restored the lead on off of an offensive board and fade away, 21-20. It would be back-and-forth as the half closed, but the Pirates still held on 27-26.

In the second half, A three-pointer gave the Owls a three-point lead after two offensive rebounds in their opening possession. The lead changed hands six times in the first five minutes in the half and then at the 13:09 mark Barnes hit a three-pointer to match the Owls' three on the previous possession to bring it within one point, 41-40. Jaden Robinson would give Park their first lead since the 15:40 mark with a tip-in with 9:39 remaining. Park's Barnett helped Park to a three-point lead with a deep ball and a layup to make it 52-49 with 7:10 left. It continued to be a bit of a roller coaster of scoring swings, but Park led by five points inside of five minutes on a Jamaal Davis lay-in at 4:33, 59-54. The five-point lead stayed true after two made free-throws by Kromah at 2:32 on the clock. After two made free-throws by the Owls and a layup with 25 seconds remaining, Park clung to a one-point lead 64-63. A key steal by the Owls and then a subsequent foul gave William Woods two free-throws at the other end to get the last lead change of the night, 65-64. Park had two shots to end the game, but nothing would fall as the Owls sealed the win in the final 30 seconds.

Park was 44.6-percent from the field to William Wood's 40.4-percent. The percentages were about the same, but William Woods hit on nine three-pointers to four for Park. Both teams had 10 made free throws, but the Pirates shot 71.4-percent from the stripe to only 55.6-percent for the Owls.

William Woods earned more rebounds than Park at 40 to 34, which included five more offensive rebounds.

Both teams had 11 turnovers in the contest, but Park had five more second chance points and four more fast break points. For the game, 13 lead changes took place.

Barnes went over 1,000 points in his collegiate career on Saturday with 282 points in his Park career, while coming into Park with 732 points in two seasons from Monroe University – Bronx. He now stands at 1,014.

He led the Pirates in scoring against William Woods with 17, while Barnett and Robinson also were in double-figures with 14 and 10 point games.

Bradford and Kromah got into the paint for the boards with 11 and seven, respectively. Both forwards had six points. Five of Kromah's boards were on the offensive glass as well. Kromah and Barnett were assist leaders with four and three, respectively.

Park is back on the floor in Lawrence, Kan. at the Ernie Stevens Jr. Classic hosted by Haskell Indian Nations University on Thursday at 12:30pm against Northern New Mexico College. The following day, on Friday, the Pirates will take on the Spires of University of Saint Mary to wrap up the tournament at 5:30pm WATCH