Statesmen Thump Clarke 93-57
The #4 ranked Statesmen notched another conference win on Saturday.
Oskaloosa–A great second-half start allowed the William Penn men’s basketball team to pull away from Clarke in a 93-57 Midwest Collegiate Conference victory Saturday.
The fourth-ranked Statesmen (19-1, 3-0 MCC), who won their fifth game in a row, outshot the Crusaders (7-10, 1-3 MCC) by a margin of 49.3%-34.4%.
The visitors scored the game’s first four points, but the hosts rallied with a 7-2 run to take the advantage for good. The edge extended to as much as 15 points before William Penn settled for a 42-31 halftime lead.
The Statesmen then put the game out of reach with a 24-9 run over the opening 9:05 of the second stanza. Much of the post-intermission success came from the perimeter as William Penn made 11 three-pointers after halftime (14 total). Conversely, Clarke was unable to connect on any of its 11 tries.
Brandon Beasley (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind., Physical Education) was active in all aspects of the win, tallying his sixth double-double with game highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds. The senior also paced the navy and gold with six assists and four steals.
Taylor Stoutner (Sr., Keota, Iowa, Physical Education) was the leader of the perimeter barrage, hitting four trifectas on his way to 16 points. Kevin Fay (Jr., Hennepin, Ill., Education) made three long attempts for 13 points, while Keith Steffeck (Sr., Marion, Iowa, Physical Education) was successful twice from downtown en route to 12 points. Steffeck matched Beasley with six assists in addition to four blocks. The Statesmen recorded assists on 24 of their 33 field goals.
Blake Walker (Jr., Rose Garden, Ga., Physical Education) and Ross Howe (Jr., State Center, Iowa, Undecided) both managed nine points, while Arman Rasul (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Sociology) and James Devlin (Sr., Tampa, Fla., Sociology) added six points each.
Twenty Crusader turnovers were converted into 20 WPU points, while a 44-39 rebounding edge resulted in a 21-11 margin in second-chance points. The navy and gold committed 14 mistakes.
Next: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Wednesday to host Viterbo in MCC play at 7:30 p.m.
