Statesmen Outlast Pioneers, Advance to Conference Final
Oskaloosa—William Penn will have its opportunity to get a clean sweep of the Heart of America Athletic Conference as they (Men’s Basketball) defeated MidAmerica Nazarene in the semifinals to earn its spot in the final.
WPU (29-3) overcame of barrage of three-pointers with a huge push from the bench to take down MNU (20-12) by the score of 89-75 on Saturday night inside the Penn Gymnasium.
The Pioneers were hot from beyond the arc to begin the ballgame as they drained a three-ball to open up a nine point lead midway through the first half, 26-17. The Statesmen proceeded to score the next nine points to tie it up 26-26 at the 7:02 mark courtesy of a Kevion Blaylock (Jr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) bucket. Both teams traded the lead back-and-forth a couple of times before William Penn scored the last bucket of the half and took a 39-38 lead into the break.
Q Cager (Jr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Wellness and Recreation) got the scoring started in the second half as he grabbed a rebound off a missed shot by MNU and subsequently got the bucket on the other end to give the Statesmen a 41-38 lead. The navy and gold continued to build a lead, slowly however as the Pioneers were able to keep it close until the 9:54 mark when the Statesmen opened up its first double-digit lead, 62-52, as Ahmad Pender (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Wellness and Recreation) laid one in. The visitors were never able to get the lead under 10 as William Penn put the finishing touches on the victory.
Despite going up against the Heart of America Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and the conferences leading shot blocker, William Penn heavily outscored the Pioneers in the paint 54-32 and winning the battle of the boards 47-36.
Blaylock and Dexter Hood (Sr., Tuscaloosa, Ala.) led the Statesmen in scoring as they each put up 21 points. Blaylock secured yet another double-double collecting 14 rebounds. Cager received the start and responded by scoring nine points, grabbing five boards, dishing out four assists, and swiping two steals. Chanze Cruesoe (Fr., St Louis, Mo., Business Management) and Josh Watkins (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Sports Management) also provided nine points while Pender and Eddie Daley (Jr., DeWitt, Michigan, Business Management) each chipped in off the bench with six points and seven boards and seven points and six rebounds respectively.
The bench score 31 points in the win.
The bid to the conference tournament final will be the 12th in the John Henry era.
“That’s a good team we beat tonight,” Head Coach John Henry said, “I could totally see them winning games at nationals. I thought our depth wore them down.”
Next Up: William Penn will host Clarke in the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament final on Tuesday night in the Penn Gymnasium.
