Statesmen End Pre-Holiday Slate with Road Win
by Wade Steinlage
Baldwin City, Kan.–The William Penn men’s basketball team used a strong second stanza to defeat Baker 80-61 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Tuesday.
#4 WPU (13-1, 7-1 Heart) trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, but outscored the Wildcats (6-7, 3-5 Heart) 61-30 down the stretch, including a 42-20 mark in the final 20 minutes.
The navy and gold, who outshot BU 49.2%-36.2% and outrebounded the host squad 41-31, was down 31-19, but drew within three at 41-38 by intermission. The Wildcats scored the first three points after the break, but a 17-2 Statesmen run gave the visitors the lead for good. After allowing Baker to shoot 50.0% prior to halftime, William Penn limited the hosts to a paltry 21.4% clip in the latter period.
Abrian Edwards (Sr., Austin, Texas, Kinesiology), who had nine points in the opening half, was excellent post-halftime, scoring 10 of his eventual game-high 25 points during the run. The senior was 10-for-15 from the field, made a three-pointer, and connected on all four of his free throws. He dished out three assists and recorded three steals as well.
William Penn dominated the interior with a 44-10 edge in points in the paint. Omar Sherman (Sr., Duncanville, Texas), with 14 points, did most of his work down deep. In contrast, the victors were not as crisp on the perimeter, shooting just 30.0% from behind the arc. Shamar Bailey-DeCoteau (Jr., Toronto, Ontario, Undecided) paced that effort with four three-pointers to match Sherman’s 14 points.
Q Cager (Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Sports Management) also reached double figures with 10 points to top the bench personnel.
Eddie Daley (So., DeWitt, Mich., Sports Management) and Darius Wheeler (Sr., Jonesboro, Ga., Sports Administration) both finished with six points, while TaJuan Johnson (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Business Management) made up for a rough shooting night (three points) by pulling down eight rebounds with a trio of thefts.
The squads combined for only 21 total free throws, but both were exceptional in their limited tries; WPU was 9-for-11, while Baker was 9-for-10. The Statesmen also controlled the ball at a fairly high level with just 11 turnovers (13 for BU).
“AB took the game over,” Head Coach John Henry said. “Our second-half defensive effort was also impressive.”
Next Up: William Penn is off until after the New Year, returning to Oskaloosa on January 5 to host #25 Graceland in Heart action at 4 p.m.
