Statesmen Stumble on Road for First Loss
William Penn University Athletics
Baldwin City, Kan.–The William Penn men’s basketball team rallied from way behind, but it could not close out its incredible second-half effort in falling 88-85 to Baker in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.
In its first loss of the campaign, #3 WPU (4-1, 2-1 Heart) struggled in the first half, trailing 55-37 to the Wildcats (3-3, 1-2 Heart). The navy and gold were being outshot 60.7%-37.9% at that juncture, but gave the hosts quite a fight in the second stanza.
William Penn, which was away from the friendly confines of Penn Gymnasium for the first time all year, paced by Jarvis Haywood (Sr., Charlotte, N.C., Business Management) with 28 points and eight rebounds, allowed a three-pointer to open the latter half, but then went on tear. The squad outscored Baker 22-4 to trim the deficit to just three with 14 minutes still on the clock.
The visitors finally recaptured the lead for the first time since the opening minutes at 68-67 and actually pulled away to a six-point edge on three separate occasions. The Statesmen unfortunately could not put the home team away. With the score 84-81 in favor of WPU with 1:22 remaining, BU managed the game’s next four points, including the eventual game-winning bucket with 25 seconds left.
William Penn failed to answer on the other end and the Wildcats tacked on one more free throw to go up 86-84 with three ticks left. The second of two free tries was missed and Charles Knowles (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) was fouled and awarded two attempts at the charity stripe to tie the game.
Unfortunately, he missed the initial shot, but trimmed the margin to one with a successful second throw. BU successfully inbounded the ball, was fouled, and sank two free throws to stretch the lead to three at 88-85, but WPU had one final chance to force overtime. The Statesmen failed to get a shot off, though, and suffered disappointment for the first time in five games this year.
William Penn outscored Baker 48-33 in the final 20 minutes, highlighted by a 43.3%-29.6% shooting advantage (outshot 45.5%-40.7% for the game). Haywood made five trifectas by game’s end; the visitors knocked down 13 overall.
Both sides were strong at the line, including WPU’s 24-for-31 showing (77.4%). In two of the most telling aspects of the loss, William Penn was outrebounded for the first time this year, 35-34, and the bench was outscored 42-7.
Torren Jones (Sr., Chandler, Ariz., Sociology) had a sizeable performance with 19 points, but he did foul out late and likely would have been a major asset in the last minute. Kevin Smith (Sr., Baltimore, Md., Physical Education), with 12 points and five assists, and Lionel Ellison (Sr., New Orleans, La., Kinesiology), with 11 points and three steals, reached double figures as well.
Knowles ended up with eight points and Rufus Williams (Sr., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Physical Education) contributed five Saturday.
WPU (12 turnovers) and BU (11) both took care of the ball, but the Wildcats were a bit better in capitalizing on their takeaways with a 17-10 edge in points off turnovers.
“To battle all the back from 21 points down and take the lead, but then to still lose in the end really hurts,” Head Coach John Henry said. “We had chances to win late, but just could not make enough shots down the stretch.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Tuesday to host Grand View in Heart action at 7:30 p.m. The game is the Annual Toilet Paper Night.
