Rebounding Advantage Leads to Blowout Win
Cedar Rapids–The William Penn men’s basketball team dominated on the glass in a one-sided game that saw the Statesmen defeat Mount Mercy 109-72 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Saturday.
The Statesmen (20-2, 16-0 Heart) have been a menacing rebounding force all year, but Saturday was a new high as they held a 69-29 edge, including posting 31 offensive boards. The offensive rebounds led to the visitors tallying 27 second-chance points.
The victory marks the program’s 10th consecutive season with 20 or more wins, and the 16th time in the last 19 years that WPU has reached that mark.
Nearly everything went the way of the Statesmen, including outshooting the Mustangs (5-16, 2-14 Heart) 45.5%-35.0%. William Penn, which did most of its damage in the paint with 60 interior points, unfortunately once again was not proficient from the perimeter at 23.8% (5-for-21).
Most of the first half saw WPU in control even though it could not really break away from the Mustangs. That was until a 9-2 run saw WPU extend its lead to 10; Daniel Rosenber (So., Burnsville, Minn., Sports Management) knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 35-25. After back-to-back layups from Malik Edwards (Fr., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management), the Statesmen pushed their lead to 17 at 53-36 going into halftime.
The navy and gold never looked back after that as the lead continued to grow throughout the second stanza. After being tested over the last couple weeks with numerous tight matchups, Saturday’s bout allowed the Statesmen to go deep into their bench and all 13 players scored.
Edwards led the Statesmen with 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master’s of Organizational Leadership) and Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) each had 14 points on the night. Daley brought down 10 rebounds as well for a double-double, while Newton was one short with nine rebounds.
Rosenber joined the double-digit club with 11 points off the bench, while Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) had a balanced outing with nine points, 13 rebounds, and five assists.
Daniel Autrey (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Business Management) was next on the scoring list with nine points, while the trio of James Pennington (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Sports Management), CJ Washington (Jr., Houston, Texas), and DJ Purnell (So., Minneapolis, Minn., Business Management) all dropped in eight points.
Brian Rios (Jr., El Paso, Texas, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) also got in on the action with five points.
The Statesmen forced 12 turnovers, leading to a 21-7 margin in points off mistakes.
“We dominated the glass tonight,” said Head Coach John Henry. “We played 13 guys and all of them scored, which is cool. Muneer Newton continues to improve every game.”
Next Up: William Penn will return to Oskaloosa next Wednesday, hosting Peru State in Heart play at 7:30 p.m.
