Newman’s Big Night Helps WPU Beat Clarke
Dubuque — The first rematch in men’s basketball between the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament finalists took place Saturday as Clarke hosted William Penn. The Championship game last year, which turned out to be the final game of the season, was a close battle between the Pride and the Statesmen. With the past couple matchups featuring less than 10-point margins of victory, Saturday’s matchup was no different. Clarke played hard all night long but William Penn kept just a step ahead of the home side and emerged with a 77-67 victory. WPU goes to 8-0 on the year and 6-0 in Heart play.
The opening tip went to Nathan Gehring (Sr., Waukee, Iowa) and after Q Cager (Sr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Wellness & Recreation) drove and could not get his layup to drop, Gehring was there to punch it back in for the first basket of the game. The next trip down the court saw Karmari Newman (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication) unleash his first three of the day to make it 5-0 within the first minute. Clarke then rattled off four straight but Gehring made a free-throw to keep the lead at two points.
Clarke tied it at six with three minutes gone before Newman sunk a baseline fade-away to make it 8-6. A three gave CU their first lead at 9-8 and with five minutes gone, WPU called their first timeout. Gehring, who had 26 in the championship game last year, restored the lead to the navy and gold off an offensive rebound. Newman nailed his second three to make it 13-9 and then Brandon Faison (Sr., Charlotte, N.C., Sports Management) collected his first shot of the game to make the score 15-9 to force the Pride to call a timeout. The 7-0 run kept the lead in favor of WPU as the teams exchanged baskets after that.
At the midway mark of the first, Cager laid it in to make the score 19-13. With the second unit entering the fray, Eddie Daley (Sr., DeWitt, Mich., Business Management) made his return after missing a couple games and scored soon after he entered to make it 22-15. The next few minutes saw few whistles and Clarke closed the lead to four at 26-22. Clarke continued to push until the game was tied at 28 as they round a good pace. The Pride then went up four points before Kevion Blaylock (Sr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) dipped the shoulder and finished as he got fouled. After a couple missed free-throws, a third chance opportunity went out to Newman, who buried a three to put WPU back up by one with two minutes to go. WPU pulled out a 4-0 run to end the half and take a 41-37 lead into the break.
The team shot 48% from the field, 30% from downtown, and was 50% from the stripe. Newman had a big first half, as he had 13 points (3-4 from three) to pace the lineup. Faison had eight and Daley had seven.
Gehring got the scoring going with a layup to start the second frame. Cager made a free-throw and then a break-away scoop layup to push the lead to nine at 46-37. A timeout by Clarke two-minutes in stopped the flow but each side only managed a couple points over the next few minutes. Five minutes gone in the second half and the Statesmen led 50-41.
The next three minutes featured a number of whistles that chopped up the game but the scoring picked up with 12 to go. Despite Clarke hitting a couple threes, the Statesmen continued to find responses. With 10 minutes to go, the board read 57-47 in favor of the navy and gold.
A free-throw after the media timeout by Faison was the only basket for three minutes until Pender made a layup to put William Penn up 60-47. Clarke then sunk two-straight threes to make the deficit only seven points, 60-53 with about six minutes on the clock. A big momentcame after a scramble-play forced Cager to call a timeout while he was tied up on the deck, leaving WPU with only two seconds on the shot clock. On the inbounds, deep-specialist Newman made a catch-and-shoot three to answer the Pride and snag the momentum back to the side of the Statesmen.
With the teams exchanging scores, WPU led 65-59 with three-minutes to go. Cager then fouled out with seven points, five rebounds, and three assists.
The next play saw Gehring rise up for a big block that resulted in Blaylock making the transition layup at the other end. However, Clarke made a couple free-throws to cut the lead to five with 1:43 to go. Newman hit yet another three to keep the Pride at bay on the next offensive possession.
The final minute saw Clarke close things up but the clock was not in their favor. Chanze Cruesoe (So., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) made a couple free-throws and Faison made a dagger of a layup with under 30 seconds to go to seal the 77-67 victory.
The team shot 46% from the floor for the game while Newman made all 6 of the 18 threes the squad attempted. WPU made 11-19 free-throws and won the rebound count 40-34, with a 10-5 edge in offensive boards. With those six threes, Newman proved to be the star on the night with 22 points, three boards, and four assists. Faison had 15 points while Blaylock had nine points to complement nine rebounds. Gehring had nine points as well while Daley had seven points and six boards in his return.
“It was great to have Eddie back playing after healing from an ankle injury,” said Head Coach John Henry. “A big thank you to Abu & the Sports Medicine staff for helping him to get back to 100%. This was a tough win tonight. Clarke played well and with energy. Newman and Faison had some clutch baskets when we needed them.”
Next up: A Monday night contest on December 7 will see the front half of a back-to-back against Mount Mercy at Penn Gymnasium. Tip will be at 6:00 p.m.
