WPU Falls for First Time Despite Hitting Century Mark Against Jaguars
University Park, Ill.–The Statesmen men’s basketball team had another strong offensive effort, but it was not enough in a 109-101 loss to Governors State to close out the Governors State Classic Saturday.
William Penn (2-1) held a 49.2%-46.9% shooting advantage, but had issues in rebounding and ball control.
The navy and gold were outrebounded 46-42, including a 20-11 deficit on the offensive end. Those extra opportunities led the Jaguars (1-2) to a 21-9 edge in second-chance points.
WPU also committed more turnovers than GSU (15-11), resulting in a 21-16 scoring margin for the home team.
In an afternoon battle that featured eight ties and four lead changes, all but one of those ties came in a back-and-forth first half.
William Penn pushed out to a game-high five-point lead at 29-24, but went into halftime down 44-41.
The Statesmen gave up the first seven points of the second stanza before slowly climbing back in. The squad eventually got back to even at 58-58 on a three-pointer by Malik Larane (Sr., Palmdale, Calif., Sports Management) with 15:00 to go.
Larane finished with 21 points off the bench, going 8-for-14 from the field (5-for-9 3-PT).
Unfortunately, the next 13 points belonged to Governors State as it rolled to the win.
Donovan Rodriguez (Sr., Philadelphia, Pa. , Sports Management) topped the visitors with 23 points, including going a perfect 12-for-12 at the free-throw line. Overall, the Statesmen were incredible at the stripe at 26-for-30.
Alif Bass (Sr., Newark, N.J. , Sports Management), who was 5-for-5 at the line as well, also eclipsed double digits with 17 points, while Jake Harbatkin (Fr., West Palm Beach, Fla., Kinesiology) just missed the mark with nine.
Tristan Coleman (Sr., Maywood, Ill., Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) and Christian Darko (Fr., Allen, Texas, Civil Engineering) each contributed six points Saturday, while Coleman was the team leader in assists (6) and blocks (4) as well. Brayden Long (Jr., Bradley, Ill.) pulled down six boards as well.
For their efforts, Larane and Rodriguez were named to the all-tournament team.
“This is a very disappointing loss,” Head Coach John Henry said. “Governors State was better than we were today, and wanted it more.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Monday to host Rockford in non-conference action at 6 p.m.
