Statesmen Drop Previously-Unbeaten Missouri Baptist
William Penn University Athletics
Columbia, Mo.–Less than 24 hours after winning a top-10 battle, the William Penn men’s basketball team took down another unbeaten squad in a 103-97 victory over Missouri Baptist at the Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Columbia Saturday.
The third-ranked Statesmen (7-1) started the game already behind the eight ball as Kevin Smith (Sr., Baltimore, Md., Physical Education) was unavailable due to injury. Then, just over eight minutes into the game and WPU up 22-17, the navy and gold lost the services of Jarvis Haywood (Sr., Charlotte, N.C., Business Management) to another injury.
William Penn was up 20-9 at one point, but depleted, it could not keep pace with the Spartans (3-1) and trailed 45-38 at the half.
The squad regrouped in the locker room, though, and with help from some unlikely stars, battled back and took the lead back for good at 75-73 with 7:42 remaining on a bucket by Dashawn Benson (Jr., Uniondale, N.Y., Sociology). The junior entered the day averaging only two points per outing, but went off for 15 on 6-for-9 shooting; he also recorded seven rebounds in the win.
WPU never pulled away, but also was not really threatened down the stretch as it was a two-possession game for most of the final eight minutes of action. The Statesmen hit 57.5% of their second-half tries and finished with a 49.3%-45.0% overall edge.
Both sides had two items of play that paced them during the afternoon. William Penn owned a 53-36 rebounding edge, including a 16-12 mark on the offensive glass that led to a 22-15 advantage in second-chance points. The victors also outscored MBU 27-11 at the line, going 27-for-33 overall (81.8%).
On the flip side, Missouri Baptist hit 14 three-pointers (eight for WPU) and committed just five turnovers (12 for WPU) that helped the Spartans to a 15-7 margin in points off turnovers.
Charles Knowles (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) was one of five Statesmen in double figures, ending up with 19 points, including four deep shots. He collected seven rebounds as well with five coming offensively.
Torren Jones (Sr., Chandler, Ariz., Sociology) and Lionel Ellison (Sr., New Orleans, La., Kinesiology) each tallied 18 points (both were also a perfect 8-for-8 at the line). Ellison dished out four assists in once again playing all 40 minutes, while Jones was incredible on the boards with 18 rebounds (two blocked shots as well).
Both Jones and Ellison were named to the all-tournament team with Jones being named Tournament MVP.
Corbin Medley (Jr., Rogersville, Mo., General Accounting) also eclipsed the double-digit plateau with 14 points, while Evan Drake (Jr., Papillion, Neb.) scored six points off the bench. Haywood managed five points and three assists before leaving the game.
“We had some big performances off the bench tonight,” Head Coach John Henry said. “Deshawn and Evan were huge in this win. Neither have not played much lately, but stepped up and were great. This is a significant win, especially with the roster we had due to injuries.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Peru, Neb. Monday to face Peru State in Heart of America Athletic Conference action at 7:30 p.m.
