Under-Manned Statesmen Fall to Culver-Stockton
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–Without a trio of its top players out, several players picked up the slack, but unfortunately it was not enough to stave off an upset as the William Penn men’s basketball team fell 93-92 in overtime to Culver-Stockton in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Wednesday.
#2 WPU (15-3, 9-3 Heart), which has now lost consecutive games for the first time since February 2015, had chances to put the Wildcats away, but failed to deliver the knockout punch. The Statesmen did not have the services of Omar Sherman (Sr., Duncanville, Texas), Mario Manuel (So., Des Moines, Iowa, Sports Management), and Q Cager (Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Sports Management) for varying reasons, but still had a chance to win Wednesday.
A back-and-forth battle all night long, the contest featured 14 ties and a whopping 24 lead changes. The hosts trailed for most of the first half, but rallied late to claim a 43-42 edge at halftime.
The Statesmen fell into the rearview once again in the early parts of the second half. WPU finally got back on top, though, only to see C-SC (9-10, 5-7 Heart) answer immediately. The sides exchanged buckets the rest of the way, including being tied seven more times in the final five-plus minutes.
The visitors claimed an 83-82 edge with just over a minute to go in regulation, but TaJuan Johnson (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Business Management) put the navy and gold ahead by two with a three-pointer. Unfortunately, the Wildcats knotted it up on the other end with 22 seconds on the clock. William Penn took a timeout to draw up a final play, but a shot along the baseline was off the mark to force overtime.
The teams combined for only 15 points in the extra session with WPU’s final points coming with 1:21 to go on a pair of free throws by Abrian Edwards (Sr., Austin, Texas, Kinesiology) to give WPU a 92-91 advantage. The Statesmen defense rose to the occasion with a total of three stops in the waning seconds, but the offense could not score on the other end. In the end, with the lead still one, the Wildcats earned one final chance and scored with just over a second remaining. WPU’s inbounding tries–three in all–were unsuccessful and the home squad came up just short.
William Penn won the shooting (49.3%-46.9%) and rebounding (47-45) battles, but permitted 17 offensive rebounds by the Wildcats, some at very inopportune times. The navy and gold also committed six more turnovers (14-8) than Culver-Stockton.
Johnson knocked down three long balls as part of a 21-point effort; the junior also notched a pair of steals.
Eddie Daley (So., DeWitt, Mich., Sports Management) was incredible in his first career start and may have earned himself a permanent spot in the rotation, recording a massive double-double with 21 points and 17 rebounds. The sophomore, who was 7-for-11 from the field and had four blocks, entered having averaged under 14 minutes of playing time per game, but on Wednesday, he was on the floor for over 35 minutes.
Edwards put 18 points on the board along with five assists, while Darius Wheeler (Sr., Jonesboro, Ga., Sports Administration), like Daley, took advantage of a starting nod and scored 13 points, headlined by three trifectas.
Marlon Alcindor (Sr., Queens, N.Y., Sociology) also reached double figures with 11 points, while Ahmad Pender (So., Chicago, Ill., Exercise Science) gave great minutes off the bench with eight points and four blocks.
“With us missing three of our best players, I thought the guys who stepped in for them played well,” Head Coach John Henry said. “This is a tough loss because I believe we gave the game away three or four different times in the final minute.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Springfield, Mo. Saturday to face Evangel in Heart action at 2 p.m.
