Five Player in Double Figures as WPU Edges MMU
Cedar Rapids, Iowa—It went down to the wire, but the Statesmen grinded out their 11th straight win on Monday over the Mustangs 93-89.
William Penn (17-1, 11-1 Heart) shot 49% from the floor and managed to have five players in double-figures while Mount Mercy (9-9, 4-8 Heart) was held to 41% shooting. WPU gained a huge advantage in the rebounding department as they outrebounded the hosts 50-36.
The in-state Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup was tightly contested throughout with neither team managing to pull away.
At the 8:30 mark of the first half, Karmari Newman (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication) drained a three-point shot to give the Navy and Gold a 31-27 lead. The lead did not last long as the Mustangs would answer back with a 5-0 run to retake a 32-31 lead. It looked as though the Statesmen like that have done all year would begin to pull away from opponents as the first half came to an end as they held a 40-35 lead with 4:28 remaining but MMU would end the half on a 19-7 run to take a 54-47 lead into the break.
William Penn has not played from behind much this season but they responded well. Newman hit a shot from beyond the arc in the opening minutes of the second half to tie the ballgame up at 57-57. From there, the Statesmen would begin to build what would be their largest lead of the ballgame as they opened it up 75-67 at the 9:47 mark courtesy of a Brandon Faison (Jr., Charlotte, N.C.) two-point bucket. Mount Mercy was not going to back down however, especially on its home court where they were 7-2 on the season entering the game. They proceeded to go on a 9-0 run and take a 76-75 lead with just over six minutes remaining. Chanze Cruesoe (Fr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) quickly ended that run with a score to help his squad retake the lead. After a back-and-forth couple of minutes, WPU took the lead for good on a Dexter Hood (Sr., Tuscaloosa, Ala.) score that made it 86-84 with 3:13 left. Cruesoe would go on to ice the game with a pair of clutch free-throws at the 0:55 mark en route to the victory.
Kevion Blaylock (Jr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) led the Statesmen in scoring and rebounding as he notched a double-double consisting of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Newman nailed a trio of shots from long-range as he added 15 points. Eddie Daley (Jr., DeWitt, Mich., Business Management) played some valuable minutes as he was able to cash in 11 points in 14 minutes of action while Faison and Hood each had 10 points.
The gritty matchup included five ties and 26 lead changes.
Next Up: William Penn will host MidAmerica Nazarene on Wednesday.
