Statesmen Win Third in a Row to Begin Season
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s basketball team had its first regular season home game on Saturday, defeating the William Woods Eagles 94-70 to kick off the season in Penn Gymnasium. The Statesmen now sit at 3-0 on the young season.
The offense started off sluggish, only scoring three points through the first two minutes of the game as the Eagles took a 6-3 lead. Reyhan Cobb (Jr., Atlanta, Ga., Sociology) was a force early in the game, grabbing five rebounds and scoring four points in the first four minutes of the contest.
Scoring still proved hard to come by for the Statesmen, as the Eagles had taken the lead and extended it to 44-36 with only two minutes left in the first half. Kevion Blaylock (Sr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) and Karmari Newman (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication) each made layups to bring the deficit within four, and the defense locked down the visitors for the rest of the half as the Statesmen entered the break down 44-40.
The Statesmen got the second half started with a bang, as Cobb kept his strong run of play going with a dunk. The Eagles got the point right back, but a layup from Q Cager (Sr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Wellness and Recreation) and two free throw makes from Newman got the Statesmen tied again at 46-46. After another layup from Cager turned the lead to four, Blaylock accounted for the next six points in a row to push the lead to double digits.
Down the stretch of the second half, a lot of different players joined in to contribute to an already high-powered offense. Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Penn., Business Management) had a few points off the bench, but Newman also caught fire. He made his first three trifectas of the evening in a two minute span helping the Statesmen to a commanding 78-57 lead.
The defense was outstanding in the second half. The Eagles, who led 44-40 at the time, could only muster 13 points through the first 14 minutes of the half. The Statesmen closed out the big victory, punctuated by two buckets from Amistad Hackett (Sr., South Fallsburg, N.Y., Sports Management)
Newman led the team on a night that saw a really even distribution of chances. Newman had 21 points on 41% shooting. Cobb did nearly anything he wanted on both ends of the court, finishing the evening with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Blaylock 17 points on 67% shooting, while Cager mixed in for a really efficient scoring output, garnering 16 points on only 10 shots.
“We had a very good second half,” said Head Coach John Henry. “Rey Cobb was awesome all night in all facets of the game.”
What’s Next: The Statesmen will have a couple of weeks to recoup before they had for a tournament in Indiana on November 12 and 13.
