Statesmen Come Up Short Against Pride
Oskaloosa—The Heart of America Athletic Conference was separated by a game and a half prior to Thursday’s contest between first place William Penn and second place Clarke.
The race got a little bit closer as William Penn (18-3, 12-3 Heart) fell to Clarke (16-6, 12-4 Heart) in a barn burner by the score of 78-77.
Despite outshooting Clarke from the field, 37%-34%, the Statesmen struggled from beyond the arc as they shot only 15% while the visiting Pride shot 29%.
A sluggish start got WPU in some trouble early as they found themselves down 21-12 with 12:12 on the clock. The navy and gold would fight back however and go on a 15-3 run to take a 27-24 lead with five minutes left before heading into the half with a 39-35 lead.
The slow starts continued to be a trend for WPU as they found themselves trailing 43-41 following an 8-2 run by the Pride. The lead in the second grew to as large as six on multiple occasions including at the 9:56 mark where the score stood at 66-60. An 11-0 Statesmen run following that deficit put them up 71-66 with the looks of putting the game away for good. Unfortunately, Clarke had one final run left in them and took a one-point lead, 78-77, in the final 39 seconds. Following a pair of missed free-throws from Clarke, the Statesmen still had a shot to win it but it wasn’t in the cards as a three-point shot attempt hit the back iron as the clock hit zero.
Four Statesmen reached double-figures as Nathan Gehring (Sr., Waukee, Iowa) led the way with 22 points while grabbing 13 boards to notch the double-double. Karmari Newman (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication) scored 14 points, Dexter Hood (Sr., Tuscaloosa, Ala.) dropped in 12 points, and Q Cager (Jr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Wellness and Recreation) had 10 points.
The teams split the boards as each team grabbed 47 rebounds and while WPU had the edge in scoring in the paint at 38-34, Clarke had the edge in second-chance points, 17-9, and bench scoring, 27-19.
Next Up: William Penn will head to Springfield, Missouri, to take on Evangel on Saturday with tip-off at 2 pm.
