Statesmen Take Ugly ‘W’ Over Avila
William Penn University Athletics
Oskaloosa–When it finally returns to full strength, the William Penn men’s basketball team will be a much stronger unit, helped by its understanding of how to grind out wins, just like it did in Thursday’s 65-53 Heart of America Athletic Conference victory over Avila.
The third-ranked Statesmen (9-1, 5-1 Heart), now winners of five straight, were sluggish to the start the night, trailing by as many as nine points at 16-7. The visitors were still down 21-14, but closed strong to lead 31-30 after 20 minutes.
The Eagles (0-10, 0-6 Heart) tallied the first two points of the second half, but it was the last time the home squad would be on top. WPU, which hit only 31.0% of its first-stanza tries, continued to warm up post-intermission with a 50.0% clip. More impressively, though, the eventual victors limited AU to just 16.7% (five field goals) in the final 20 minutes to claim another win without two of its starters.
William Penn thoroughly dominated the latter period, highlighted by two big runs of seven straight and eight straight. Once it went up by double digits at the 8:11 mark, WPU stayed ahead by that sizeable cushion.
Torren Jones (Sr., Chandler, Ariz., Sociology) got into early foul trouble and was held scoreless until the second half. He had an incredible ending, though, finishing with a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Corbin Medley (Jr., Rogersville, Mo., General Accounting) managed a trio of three-pointers as part of 15 points (also had two blocked shots), while Dashawn Benson (Jr., Uniondale, N.Y., Sociology) joined his teammates in double figures with 10 points.
Charles Knowles (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) added seven points, and Lionel Ellison (Sr., New Orleans, La., Kinesiology) and Brandon Trotter (Jr., Louisville, Ky., Kinesiology) each finished with six points. Ellison pulled down 10 rebounds and also dished out six assists.
William Penn, which ended the game with a 40.4%-27.8% shooting edge, also dominated the glass 47-30. The navy and gold overcame 15 turnovers, compared to 12 by AU.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Evangel in Heart action at 4 p.m.
