Statesmen Claim Share of Third-Straight Heart Crown

Corbin Medley (Sr., Rogersville, Mo., Business Management) had an amazing start Saturday with a trio of trifectas in the first three minutes, and the senior did not slow down, finishing with a team-high 23 points.

Corbin Medley (Sr., Rogersville, Mo., Business Management) had an amazing start Saturday with a trio of trifectas in the first three minutes, and the senior did not slow down, finishing with a team-high 23 points.

by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s basketball team went wire-to-wire Saturday to lock up another regular season championship, holding off Clarke 109-95 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play.

Coupled with a loss by Central Methodist, #3 WPU (25-2, 15-2 Heart) collected a share of its 11th regular season conference title. It is the program’s third crown in a row (second such stretch) and the seventh in Head Coach John Henry’s tenure (all since 2005-2006). The three-peat is just the second one in Heart history; William Jewell won four straight from 1985-1988.

The navy and gold, who also secured the unofficial North Division title for a Heart Tournament first-round bye, were on their game early with a 27-10 edge over the Pride (12-16, 5-12 Heart). The advantage grew to 21 points late in the first stanza; the hosts led 64-45 at halftime. At that juncture, the Statesmen were outshooting CU 54.5%-36.7%.

William Penn looked to put the visitors away in the opening minutes of the second half, but Clarke would have no part of it, trimming the margin to seven with 13:59 still on the clock.

The edge expanded back to 15, but once again, the Pride refused to go away and with 3:56 remaining, WPU led by just five at 98-93. Fortunately, the Statesmen answered with six in a row as part of an 11-2 run to close it out.

The victors outshot the Pride 50.0%-39.6% and outrebounded them 62-39. WPU’s 25 offensive rebounds led to 26 points; CU also succeeded on the offensive boards with 23 points on 19 caroms.

The hosts also overcame allowing 16 three-pointers (12 for WPU), while committing 15 turnovers as well (only 9 for Clarke).

Corbin Medley (Sr., Rogersville, Mo., Business Management) had an amazing start Saturday with a trio of trifectas in the first three minutes, and the senior did not slow down, finishing with a team-high 23 points. He was 9-for-18 overall, including making five three-pointers.

Terrell Thompson (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind., Wellness and Recreation) was just one point behind him with 22 points in addition to seven assists.

JC Washington (Sr., Houston, Texas, Sociology) was next with 20 points, but also secured 16 rebounds for a double-double. He dished out five assists as well.

Jovontae Carleton (Jr., El Cerrito, Calif., Sociology) paced the Statesmen bench with 15 points, while D’Angelo Allen (Jr., Dallas, Texas, Wellness and Recreation) also hit double figures with 10 points.

Defensively, Mikeal Donaldson (Sr., Columbia, S.C., Wellness and Recreation) guided William Penn with five blocked shots in the victory.

“I am very excited for our players,” Henry said. “Winning a conference championship is very difficult. There will now forever be a banner in our gym that reads 2018 conference champions!”

“I want to give a special thank you to all of our coaches,” Henry added. “My assistant coaches work very hard and work well together and are a major reason for our success.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines next Wednesday to face Grand View in Heart action at 7:30 p.m.

Posted by on Feb 18 2018. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed

         

Search Archive

Search by Date
Search by Category
Search with Google
Log in | Copyright by Oskaloosa News