Cold Shooting Snaps Statesmen Winning Streak

William Penn University Athletics

Des Moines–The William Penn men’s basketball team did a tremendous job on the offensive glass to stay within striking distance Monday, but simply could not get the ball through the hoop as it dropped a top-20 matchup to rival and #17 Grand View 81-76 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.

The loss ends the seven-game winning streak for #4 WPU (18-3, 14-3 Heart) and allows the Vikings (15-5, 14-4 Heart) to close the league lead to one-half game.

The visitors limited GVU to 38.8% from the field, but unfortunately had even bigger struggles of their own at a season-low 31.0%. William Penn did give itself a chance with a 59-49 rebounding edge, highlighted by 25 offensive boards (tied for second-most this year). Those 25 extra chances resulted in a 26-13 margin in second-chance points, but it was not enough to help the Statesmen to the season sweep over Grand View.

WPU was down 39-37 at halftime in a contest that witnessed five ties and five lead changes before the break. The Statesmen never recaptured the advantage after intermission, but a win never seemed out of reach either. The Vikings put William Penn on its heels several times, including claiming a game-high 12-point advantage with 8:13 to go. GVU never delivered the proverbial knockout punch though as the Statesmen weathered each and every storm.

The navy and gold had a few opportunities late to rally for victory, but failed to make the big play in the final seconds. They will seek to right the ship Thursday, returning to Oskaloosa to host Avila in Heart action at 7:30 p.m.

The matchup was a fairly clean one in respect to turnovers with the teams combining for only 18 mistakes (10 for WPU); William Penn outscored Grand View 8-4 in points off turnovers.

The Statesmen also hit three more three-pointers (7-4, 33.3%) than the hosts and shot well at the charity stripe (15-for-19), but unfortunately could not overcome its poor shooting everywhere else, including several right around the rim.

Torren Jones (Sr., Chandler, Ariz., Sociology) was unable to find his touch on a 7-for-25 evening, but his tenacity allowed him to still produce a big double-double of 19 points and 17 rebounds.

Kevin Smith (Sr., Baltimore, Md., Physical Education) tallied 15 points, while fellow point guard Lionel Ellison (Sr., New Orleans, La., Kinesiology) was next with 14 points and three assists.

Jeremy Postell (Sr., Atlanta, Ga., Sociology) was the squad’s most accurate marksman, going 5-for-9 (3-for-5 3-PT) as part of a 13-point performance.

Charles Knowles (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) added six points Monday.

“We have to give Grand View a lot of credit,” Head Coach John Henry said. “They played and coached great tonight. That is one of the best Grand View teams I have seen in my tenure here. Hopefully this loss helps us refocus and motivates us moving forward. We lost one game tonight, not five; it was just one loss.”

Posted by on Jan 31 2017. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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