Statesmen Claim Season Opener 100-82 Over Florida National
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Pikeville, Ky.–The William Penn men’s basketball team faced more of a test than it was expecting in Friday’s season opener against Florida National, but did enough to earn a 100-82 win at the Pikeville Tournament.
#3 WPU (1-0) received 20-point performances from Terrell Thompson (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind., Wellness and Recreation) and Jovontae Carleton (Jr., El Cerrito, Calif., Sociology) and outshot the Conquistadors 44.4%-35.9%.
It was a dogfight in the opening stanza, but the navy and gold closed strong with a 10-2 run to lead 46-38 at intermission.
FNU did not back off, however, tallying the first 10 points of the second half for a 48-46 lead. The Statesmen fortunately answered right back with 13 of the next 16 points and never trailed again.
Florida National got as close as three points inside 11 minutes to go, but one more big run of 15-2 allowed William Penn plenty of breathing room and it cruised to the victory. The Statesmen put an exclamation point on the win with an 11-2 run over the final three minutes of competition.
Thompson was 9-for-14 from the field (3-for-5 3-PT) for 24 points. Thompson dished out a team-high four assists. He ended up being the main point guard as Aakim Saintil (Sr., West Orange, N.J., Business Management) went down with an injury just seven minutes into action. He will be reevaluated after the weekend.
The Statesmen were also without the services of Brandon Trotter (Sr., Louisville, Ky., Kinesiology) (coaches’ decision), but more importantly did not have their skipper for the first time in his career (information not verified). Head Coach John Henry’s son Cole was playing in the state high school football playoffs for Oskaloosa and he stayed back to support, opening the door for Associate Head Coach Blake Sandquist and the rest of the staff to take care of business.
Carleton came up big off the bench with 23 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. He finished 9-for-10 at the free-throw line, while the team was 27-for-35.
Dominique Shaw (Sr., Lufkin, Texas, Wellness and Recreation), with 17, JC Washington (Sr., Houston, Texas, Sociology), with 13, and Mikeal Donaldson (Sr., Columbia, S.C.), with 10, also eclipsed double figures.
Corbin Medley (Sr., Rogersville, Mo., General Accounting) just missed the mark with nine points.
WPU owned a 53-40 edge on the glass with Washington pulling down nine. The squad outscored FNU 21-8 in second-chance points. The Statesmen did have some control issues, however, with 20 turnovers (14 for the Conquistadors), which led to a 19-11 edge in points off turnovers for FNU.
“This was a great opening test for our guys,” Associate Head Coach Blake Sandquist said. “We were not at our best tonight, but we stuck together and battled all night. Terrell and Jovontae really stepped up for us in their William Penn debuts.”
Next Up: William Penn remains in Pikeville Saturday, finishing the tournament against Central Penn (Pa.) at 4:30 p.m. (Central)
