Haywood, Jones Guide Statesmen to Top-15 Win Over Benedictine
William Penn University Athletics
Atchison, Kan.–Its season-best eighth-straight win was by far the toughest, but was also possibly the most important as the William Penn men’s basketball team defeated #14 Benedictine 76-68 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Wednesday.
Having only national tournament seeding to play for as it concludes the regular season, #2 WPU (26-3, 22-3 Heart) could have easily found itself on the losing end against the Ravens (20-9, 17-8 Heart), but fortunately stayed the course with an impressive road victory.
The Statesmen, who entered the matchup with three separate seven-game winning streaks, finally got over that hump by outshooting BC 49.1%-38.5%.
The hosts started strong, holding a 10-5 edge, but the navy and gold responded with nine unanswered points and stayed on top the remainder of the night, including leading 32-24 at halftime.
Benedictine was also solid to open the second half, pulling to within three twice in the early going. WPU did not flinch, though, as an 11-2 run put the visitors up by double digits; the Statesmen were never truly threatened from that point onwards.
Jarvis Haywood (Sr., Charlotte, N.C., Business Management) had a great effort off the bench, going 8-for-11 (5-for-7 3-PT) from the floor as part of a 27-point night; he was also a perfect 6-for-6 at the line and managed two steals.
Torren Jones (Sr., Chandler, Ariz., Sociology) just missed a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds. William Penn topped Benedictine 37-33 on the boards, leading to a 10-5 edge in second-chance points.
Charles Knowles (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) was next on the scoring list with eight points, while Lionel Ellison (Sr., New Orleans, La., Kinesiology) produced seven points in addition to four assists. Jeremy Postell (Sr., Atlanta, Ga., Sociology) contributed six points in the victory.
WPU overcame 17 turnovers (14 for BC) that resulted in a 17-14 deficit in points off mistakes.
“This was a great win,” Head Coach John Henry said. “Anytime you travel four hours on a school night and win is great. Jarvis played fantastic.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday for Senior Day as its wraps up the regular season against Missouri Valley in Heart action at 4 p.m.
