William Penn Hangs on for Top-10 Victory Over Columbia
William Penn University Athletics
Columbia, Mo.–The Statesmen men’s basketball team did not suffer a Thanksgiving Day food hangover and certainly did not back down from a major challenge as it defeated #6 Columbia 87-79 in the opener of the Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Columbia Friday.
In a rematch of last season’s second-round NAIA Division I National Championships contest in which the navy and gold won 86-68, #6 WPU (6-1) made sure the Cougars (6-1) were unable to exact revenge at home.
Columbia, which had opened its campaign with three straight wins over Heart of America Athletic Conference foes Baker, Culver-Stockton, and Missouri Valley, failed to stay perfect on the year as William Penn overcame 20 turnovers by holding a 52.5%-38.4% edge from the floor.
The hosts scored eight of the first 10 points, but the visitors answered with a 13-4 run to take the lead with 14:06 left in the first half. WPU remained on top for all but about one minute of the remainder of the matchup.
Up 24-21 at the midway point of the stanza, the Statesmen rattled off ten in a row as part of a 21-5 run that saw them go up by a game-high 19 points at 45-26. Paced by a 54.8%-29.7% shooting margin, William Penn settled on a 47-34 halftime advantage.
The Cougars were kept at bay for the first few minutes of the latter period, but a 12-2 run knotted the score at 57-57 at the 11:45 mark. The navy and gold answered with seven points of their own, only to allow one final CC response that put the home squad ahead 72-71 with 5:27 still on the clock.
After two unsuccessful trips down the court for both sides, Jarvis Haywood (Sr., Charlotte, N.C., Business Management) connected on a three-pointer to put the Statesmen up for good. Haywood and Torren Jones (Sr., Chandler, Ariz., Sociology) lifted their team in the waning minutes, recording 15 of WPU’s final 16 points.
The game was still in question at 80-77 with 1:48 to go, but Jones made a bucket, Haywood knocked down a pair of free throws, and Corbin Medley (Jr., Rogersville, Mo., General Accounting) put in one more charity stripe toss to ice the win.
Jones finished with a double-double of 30 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-9 forward connected on two long balls and also stole two passes.
Haywood definitely did not take a backseat to his fellow senior, making 10 of his 15 shots (3-for-3 3-PT, 4-for-4 FT) as part of a 27-point effort. Medley did nearly all of his damage from deep with four more trifectas to finish with 13 points.
Workhorse Lionel Ellison (Sr., New Orleans, La., Kinesiology) stayed on the hardwood the entire 40 minutes, tallying seven points with a squad-best eight assists.
CC stayed tight by only committing 13 turnovers and outscoring WPU 22-19 in points off mistakes. Both teams were excellent at the line with William Penn ending up 14-for-17. The victors also topped Columbia on the glass, 44-36.
Nick Jeffries (Jr., Altoona, Iowa, Exercise Science) headlined the defensive effort with three of WPU’s seven blocked shots.
“This was an amazing team victory,” Head Coach John Henry said. “We showed tremendous composure and battled through a lot. To beat the #6 team in the nation on the road is huge.”
Next Up: William Penn concludes the Classic Saturday by facing Missouri Baptist at 1 p.m.
