William Penn Drops Top-25 Matchup
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Atchison, Kan.–The Statesmen men’s basketball team failed to keep pace with #12 Benedictine Monday as it fell 84-70 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.
In a game postponed two days due to a winter storm, #2 WPU (15-2, 9-2 Heart) was outshot 50.0%-45.9% and outrebounded 36-33. The nail in the coffin, though, was the visiting squad’s poor perimeter showing as it was held to 20.0% (4-for-20).
The sides went back and forth throughout the first half in the heavyweight matchup, tied at 31-31 entering the locker rooms. William Penn tends to be a tremendous second-period crew, but on Monday the Ravens (16-2, 11-0 Heart) remained perfect in league play by making the better adjustments, leading to 53 points on 58.8% shooting.
The Statesmen tallied the first two points after intermission and were tied 40-40 with 15:18 remaining. Unfortunately, BC posted eight unanswered and never looked back, leading by double digits for more than the last 11-plus minutes of play.
Despite being on the losing end of the glass battle, WPU held an 8-4 edge in second-chance points. The Statesmen committed 13 turnovers compared to 11 for the Ravens, which led to a 16-8 mark in points off turnovers for the home program.
TaJuan Johnson (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Business Management) and Q Cager (Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Sports Management), who came off the bench, topped WPU with 13 points each.
Omar Sherman (Sr., Duncanville, Texas), with 11 points, and Marlon Alcindor (Sr., Queens, N.Y., Sociology), with 10, also reached double figures. Mario Manuel (So., Des Moines, Iowa, Sports Management) managed eight points, while Shamar Bailey-DeCoteau (Jr., Toronto, Ontario, Undecided) was good for an additional five.
Abrian Edwards (Sr., Austin, Texas, Kinesiology) dished out four assists and stole two balls Monday as well.
“We did not play well tonight with the biggest reason for that being that Benedictine is really good,” Head Coach John Henry said. “We had a difficult time stopping them, especially in the second half. TaJuan Johnson was a warrior for us all night. He played hard all the way to the end.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Wednesday to host Culver-Stockton in Heart action at 7:30 p.m.
