WPU Overcomes Slow Start to Clip MMU

Omar Sherman had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots against Mount Mercy.

Omar Sherman had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots against Mount Mercy.

by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s basketball team committed 23 turnovers and trailed by double digits midway through the first half, but rallied with a strong 30 minutes to defeat Mount Mercy 99-79 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Thursday.

#2 WPU (15-1, 9-1 Heart) made up for its sloppy play by outshooting the Mustangs 56.7%-41.7% and outrebounding them 51-28.

The hosts could not have scripted a worse start, losing the ball in six of their first eight possessions. MMU (9-7, 4-6 Heart) took advantage of the mistakes by pulling out to a 21-11 edge just 7:29 into the night. Helped by 12 William Penn turnovers, the Mustang advantage eventually grew to 14 at 32-18 with 9:48 still left in the first half.

Fortunately, the Statesmen, who shot 60.7% prior to halftime, settled down and made just two more offensive errors. They posted a 22-8 run to close out the period with a 44-40 edge.

The visitors kept it interesting through the first seven-plus minutes of the latter stanza, tying the contest at 59-59. WPU recaptured the lead on its next possession, however, and then ran away from the Mustangs by scoring 17 of the next 20 points. MMU trimmed the margin to nine twice–the last time coming at the 4:48 mark–but a 15-4 Statesmen run shut the door on the upset bid.

Overall, after falling behind 32-18, William Penn finished the game with an 81-47 advantage.

The Statesmen’s 23 turnovers (13 for MMU) resulted in the visitors owning an 18-11 margin in points off mistakes. Conversely, the squad’s rebounding domination helped it to a 20-13 mark in second-chance points.

Although neither team was stellar at the charity stripe, WPU was considerably better with a 63.6%-44.4% edge. The victors also shot 50.0% from behind the arc, while the Mustangs were just 30.6%.

Abrian Edwards (Sr., Austin, Texas, Kinesiology), at times taking his team on his back, finished with an impressive stat line. He scored 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting (2-for-3 3-PT, 5-for-5 FT) and also tallied eight rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.

He was far from the only Statesmen in double figures as three others joined him. Omar Sherman (Sr., Duncanville, Texas), who had not played since December 11, got back in game shape with 17 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. Q Cager (Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Sports Management) added 14 points off the bench on 5-for-6 shooting, and TaJuan Johnson (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Business Management) also hit the mark with 12 points. Johnson was a huge reason why the navy and gold were able to pull away late as all 12 of his points came in the final 9:50 of regulation.

Darius Wheeler (Sr., Jonesboro, Ga., Sports Administration) and Ahmad Pender (So., Chicago, Ill., Exercise Science) each posted eight points in non-starting roles, while Shamar Bailey-DeCoteau (Jr., Toronto, Ontario, Undecided) (seven points) and Marlon Alcindor (Sr., Queens, N.Y., Sociology) (six points) contributed offensively as well.

Eddie Daley (So., DeWitt, Mich., Sports Management) was also solid off the bench as he led William Pen with three blocks in addition to a pair of points and three boards.

“We were sloppy tonight, but we got the win,” Head Coach John Henry said. “Our rebounding was the biggest reason for us coming out on top.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Atchison, Kan. Saturday to face #12 Benedictine in Heart action at 4 p.m.

Posted by on Jan 12 2019. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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