Statesmen Clinch Regular Season Heart Title
Olathe, Kan.–Keeping up with their trend for the season, the William Penn men’s basketball team won another dramatic thriller, defeating the MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers 90-87 in overtime. The Statesmen now own a 23-1 record overall and a 14-1 mark in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
With the win, William Penn has now clinched at least a share of the regular season Heart title for the third consecutive year, and the sixth time in seven seasons. The Statesmen have now also guaranteed themselves as the #1 seed in this year’s conference tournament.
The navy and gold got off to a hot start in the opening minutes. After Reyhan Cobb (Jr., Atlanta, Ga., Sociology) got the scoring started, Kevion Blaylock (Sr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) drained a three. Karmari Newman (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication) tried to follow suit, but was instead gifted a trio of attempts at the free throw line and sank all three. Chanze Cruesoe (So., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) added a triple and a layup, putting William Penn ahead 15-4 after only four minutes.
The lead settled there, as the two teams traded baskets for the next few minutes. Q Cager (Sr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Wellness and Recreation) went on his own five point run, adding another basket later. The Pioneers began to cut into the lead late, but Newman hit a few more free throws and another one from downtown to help send the Statesmen into halftime with a seven point lead. Newman had a big first half with 14 points, while Cager had nine.
Cager scored again to open up the half, but both teams struggled offensively coming out of the break. During a shooting drought for both teams, the Pioneers were able to trim the lead to one. Cobb pushed it back out to three, but MNU nailed a three on the other end to tie the score for the first time since the opening minutes.
WPU extended the league back out to eight, but the hosts fought back once again, eventually taking a late two point lead with only 45 seconds left. The first attempt to tie was no good, and William Penn was forced to foul. The Pioneers missed the first of a one-and-one, and the Statesmen had another chance. This time, Blaylock got the bucket to go to equalize at 80.
The lead bounced back and forth in the overtime period, but Frederick Jackson (Sr., Killeen, Texas, Interdisciplinary Studies) helped push the lead to three. Newman continued to hit clutch free throws down the stretch, including all of his final four attempts from the line, and a last second heave to send the game into double-overtime was no good.
Newman led the navy and gold with 24 points, going 10-12 from the charity stripe and also dishing out six assists. Cager was a force on all sides of the ball, totaling 16 points, three rebounds, four steals, and five assists. Blaylock finished just shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine boards.
Both Cobb and Jackson had big games, each reaching double-digits in points with 12 and 10, respectively. The Statesmen held an even 50% shooting percentage on the afternoon, holding the Pioneers to a 44.7% clip. However, MNU was able to take 14 more shot attempts than WPU, thanks in part to 17 offensive rebounds. The Pioneers held a slight advantage on overall rebounds, 41-40, but the Statesmen were able to earn 21 points off free throws, compared to only 15 for the Pioneers.
“Not too many teams could have done what we did tonight,” said Head Coach John Henry. “I’m still kind of in shock that we won. Wow what a win and conference champs again!”
What’s Next: The Statesmen take the road again on Wednesday for a matchup against the Park Pirates. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM.
