Alexander’s 40-Point Night Leads WPU to First Win
William Penn University Athletics
Oskaloosa–Dondre Alexander (Jr., Iowa City, Iowa) had a jaw-dropping 40-point effort Friday as the Statesmen men’s basketball team claimed its first victory of the year and avenged last year’s loss in a 91-77 non-conference win over Morningside.
Alexander was 14-for-22 from the field (9-for-15 3-PT), including scoring 28 points (6 3-PT) by halftime. At one point, the junior scored 14 straight for the home team (4 3-PT in a span of 1:45).
William Penn (1-1), which fell 112-100 to the Mustangs (0-2) last season, had some highs and lows in the early minutes, trailing 24-19 at the midway point of the opening half. Fortunately, the offense finally exploded for the first time this campaign with a 19-6 run. Another 15-5 stretch helped the navy and gold go up by double digits; they would never lead by less than 12 the rest of the evening.
Ahead 55-39 at the break, WPU was slowed down a bit in the second half with foul trouble being the biggest culprit. The team was whistled for numerous violations, leading to 21 MC free-throw attempts (35 total, just 19 for the hosts) which kept the score from becoming too lopsided.
William Penn outshot Morningside 44.6%-39.3% and also controlled the boards 49-34. Both sides committed 14 turnovers in the contest.
In addition to his high scoring tally, Alexander also pulled down 11 rebounds for his first double-double; he blocked two shots and stole four passes as well. Steven Roundtree (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.) and Antonio Levy (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) joined Alexander in double figures with 16 points each, while Charles Knowles (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) contributed seven points. Roundtree recorded 11 rebounds to also post a double-double.
Jessie Pernell (Sr., North Augusta, Ga.) had just five points, but was a strong floor general with nine assists.
“Tonight was a good bounce-back from last night’s disappointment,” Head Coach John Henry said. “We were all pretty embarrassed with Thursday night and had a long film session this afternoon before the game. I think we learned a lot from Thursday and it showed with a much better performance tonight.”
Next Up: William Penn continues its five-game season-opening home stand next Wednesday by hosting College of the Ozarks (Mo.) at 7 p.m.
