Statesmen Stay in First with Road Win Over Clarke
William Penn University Athletics
Dubuque–Just two days removed from a milestone victory for its head coach, the William Penn men’s basketball team managed to not suffer a letdown in a 97-76 Heart of America Athletic Conference win over Clarke Monday.
The fourth-ranked Statesmen (13-2, 9-2 Heart) went wire-to-wire to remain on top of the league standings with Grand View, which defeated #17 Benedictine in Kansas. WPU will next face Benedictine Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Oskaloosa.
The visitors scored the first seven points of the night and eventually pulled out to a 24-6 margin midway through the first stanza. The lead grew to 22 before being trimmed to 13 by intermission.
Fortunately, the Crusaders (5-10, 3-8 Heart) were unable to close the gap any more in a game that witnessed the victors outshooting CU 42.4%-36.5%.
The navy and gold made their living on the glass with a massive 61-41 mark (22 offensive). WPU also knocked down six more three-pointers (10-4) than Clarke.
A pair of Statesmen posted double-doubles with Jarvis Haywood (Sr., Charlotte, N.C., Business Management) managing 20 points and 12 rebounds (two steals as well) and Torren Jones (Sr., Chandler, Ariz., Sociology) finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Charles Knowles (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) was next in scoring with 15 points, while Corbin Medley (Jr., Rogersville, Mo., General Accounting) was also in double figures with 11. Elijah Williams (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) added eight in the scoring column, and Lionel Ellison (Sr., New Orleans, La., Kinesiology) contributed six points in addition to three blocks.
“We played pretty solid defensive tonight,” Head Coach John Henry said. “If we would have shot better, I would have said we played close to a perfect game for us because of how well we rebounded.”
