Statesmen Slip Past Wildcats in Road Test
Canton, Missouri—The Statesmen hit the road for the first time in the new decade as they took on Culver-Stockton.
William Penn (14-1, 8-1 Heart) skated by a game Culver-Stockton (3-10, 2-7) squad that seems to played some inspired ball on its home court. WPU got off to a great start opening up the lead to as many as 22, 40-18, in the first half on a layup courtesy of Eddie Daley (Jr., DeWitt, Mich., Business Management) at the 5:22 mark. A 13-5 run to close the half by the home team cut the lead to 45-31 heading into break.
In the second, William Penn once again got off to a great start to begin a half opening up its largest lead of the game (27) at the 10:51 mark as Nathan Gehring (Jr., Waukee, Iowa,) got a shot from the paint to fall. However, the pesky Wildcats wouldn’t go away. Thanks to a barrage of threes, C-SC found themselves with their slimmest deficit since the opening minutes as they trailed by only seven with 2:31 remaining. The Statesmen put the game on ice shortly after with a pair of free-throws converted by Karmari Newman (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication) and a breakaway layup from Dexter Hood (Sr., Tuscaloosa, Ala.) to give their squad its seventh straight win, 92-81.
The navy and gold outshot Culver-Stockton 50%-45% from the field as they were led in scoring by Hood and Newman who each had 20 points. Kevion Blaylock (Jr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) finished with 15 points while Brandon Faison (Jr., Charlotte, N.C.) and Gehring each chipped in 10.
Chanze Cruesoe (Fr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) led the facilitating duties as he collected 11 assists in the game. Faison also had a nice night distributing as he finished with eight.
The visiting Statesmen dominated the boards as they finished with a 51-24 advantage. Faison led the team with nine rebounds as he narrowly missed a triple-double. Hood and Gehring also played a big role as they each finished with seven.
Next Up: The Statesmen will return home to take on Peru State on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 4 pm.
