William Penn Goes Wire-to-Wire for Semifinal Berth
Brady Burford scored 16 against Benedictine (Kan.) on Wednesday night.
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s basketball team started hot, but had to hold off a determined Benedictine (Kan.) squad to win 83-70 in the quarterfinals of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Wednesday.
#3 seed and #10-nationally ranked William Penn (25-6), which beat the Ravens (15-14) for the third time this year, will now venture to Peru, Neb. Friday to take on #16 and second-seeded Peru State in the conference semifinals at 7 p.m. WPU and PSC split their regular season series with the Statesmen winning 104-86 on December 5 and the Bobcats taking the January 30 meeting 91-76. The other semifinal will pit top seed MidAmerica Nazarene against #5 seed Graceland in Olathe, Kan.
The navy and gold had unquestionably its best start of the year, roaring out to a 16-0 lead just 5:05 into the game. Jessie Pernell (Sr., North Augusta, S.C., Physical Education) was on fire, scoring 10 of the game’s first 12 points, en route to 19 points for the evening. BC finally got on the board and the squads played even for the next few minutes as the hosts remained up 16 points at 24-8. Unfortunately, the visitors were quite a bit better in the second part of the first stanza to close within four at halftime, 33-29.
Things remained tight in the first few minutes of the second half, but the Statesmen never relinquished the lead. They were still up three at 46-43 when they went on a huge 16-4 run to push the edge to a seemingly-insurmountable 15-point advantage at 62-47.
Benedictine refused to go quietly, however, scoring 12 of the next 15 points to cut the score to 65-59. In the end, WPU’s dominance at the charity stripe, including a 26-for-33 showing after intermission (31-for-41 overall) pushed the squad into the winner’s circle for the 25th time this season–it ties for the third-most victories in a single campaign.
The Statesmen won the shooting (45.8%-36.7%) and rebounding (41-33) battles and overcame four fewer three-pointers (8-12) and two more turnovers (13-11). To say the victors took advantage of their extra chances is a major understatement; William Penn had only five offensive rebounds, but turned them into an 11-7 edge in second-chance points.
WPU may have been on the short end of the long-ball battle, but it was quite effective in its tries with a 50.0% showing (8-for-16).
Jarvis Haywood (Jr., Charlotte, N.C., Business Management) scored a game-high 22 points with three trifectas and a 7-for-8 free-throw effort.
In addition to Pernell’s 19 points (five three-pointers), Brady Burford (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) (16 points) and Steven Roundtree (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla., Physical Education) (14 points) were in double figures as well. Roundtree struggled from the field (2-for-12), but made up for that by threatening a triple-double with eight rebounds and six assists. He was also 10-for-12 at the line.
Kevin Smith (Jr., Baltimore, Md., Physical Education) contributed seven points off the bench.
