WPU Starts Year by Beating Missouri Baptist
Oskaloosa–William Penn and Missouri Baptist squared off to raise the curtain on the Statesmen men’s basketball season Saturday afternoon. WPU took the lead and never trailed in the contest as the Statesmen earned an 86-52 victory. Karmari Newman (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication) led the team with 18 points as the team’s defense shined in the game. The squad is now 1-0 on the young campaign.
The Spartans won the opening tip, but missed their shot. Nathan Gehring (Sr., Waukee, Iowa) made a break for the basket off the rebound and the spot-on pass from Brandon Faison (Sr., Charlotte, N.C., Sports Management) led Gehring in for the dunk to open the scoring on the year. The navy and gold quickly made it 4-0 over the first minute and change.
The Spartans scored a couple baskets, but the tide was with the home side early. Kevion Blaylock (Sr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) added in a basket before Q Cager (Sr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Wellness & Recreation) chipped in a couple free throws to make it 7-4. Defensively, WPU did not foul for the first seven minutes as they forced Missouri Baptist into turnovers and bad shots. The visitors did not get over 10 points until there were seven minutes to go in the first half.
Meanwhile, the offense had some top moments with Blaylock and Cager each having a couple dunks as the lead grew to 21-9 eight minutes in. Missouri Baptist called a timeout, but could not stem the tide as the lead reached 19 points, courtesy of an Eddie Daley (Sr., DeWitt, Mich., Business Management) put-back bucket. From there, however, the fortunes slightly shifted. WPU continued to lead, but the Spartans started to make some shots to keep the lead from mushrooming into a blowout. With seven minutes to go in the half, Daniel Rosenber (Fr., Burnsville, Minn.) drained a three for his first basket as a Statesmen to get the bench to their feet. The teams traded scores as the lead stayed steady around 20 points.
Up 37-17 with four minutes to go, the Spartans closed out the half with a 5-2 run to make the halftime score 40-22. WPU shot 39% from the field, while making five-of-eight three-point shots in the first 20 minutes. They held the Spartans to 25.7% from the field as they locked down the visitors for most of the frame. The Statesmen also led the rebound category 31-21.
The second half got going when Gehring made another easy basket with Cager getting the assist, but Missouri Baptist kept things interesting, as they cut the lead to 46-30. From there, WPU figured out its scoring touch again and would not let the lead slip below 20 points the rest of the game.
Newman made a slick move to make it 48-30 a couple of plays later to start a good run from the navy and gold, as they outscored the Spartans 18-10 over the next six minutes. Ty Majlik-Autry (Jr., St. Petersburg, Fla.), Ahmad Pender (Sr., Chicago, Ill, Wellness & Recreation), and Chanze Cruesoe (So., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) led the way over that stretch as the score ballooned to 66-30.
The shooting continued to be a little off as the Statesmen worked to shake all the rust off. Despite missing 50 shots on the night, the defense continued to play at a high level en route to the victory. WPU shot 39.8% from the field and made 6-of-29 three-point shots, good for just 20.7%. They also won the rebound battle 61-48 and made 10 steals on the night and 22 assists as a squad.
Newman had six rebounds to go along with his 18 points. He was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line as the team was 14-21 from the stripe on the night. Blaylock had 11 points and seven boards, while Pender had 12 points and four rebounds. Gehring added 10 points and eight rebounds to end just shy of a double-double, while Cager had seven points and eight helpers.
Eddie Daley (Sr., DeWitt, Mich., Business Management) had 11 rebounds to top the team in that category, while adding six points, including one three-point shot. Josh Watkins (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Sports Management) added two threes, while Cruesoe had six points and five assists. Majlik-Autry had four points, four assists, and five boards in his debut, while Faison had three points, four assists, and five rebounds.
“It was so great to play a real game and lose ourselves in the moment for two hours,” said Head Coach John Henry. “Our new tradition of ringing the victory bell almost made me cry; Dexter Hood came back for opening night and he rang the bell after the game.”
Next Up: WPU will battle Harris-Stowe State Sunday at 2 p.m.
