WPU Wins Season Opener

Demarius Cager puts home 2 easy points on Saturday for William Penn.

by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–With all 15 players in the scoring column, the Statesmen men’s basketball team dispatched its season-opening foe with ease, winning 125-37 over Association Free Lutheran Bible School in non-conference play Saturday.

#2 William Penn (1-0) won the shooting (61.3%-19.7%) and the rebounding (61-36) battles en route to its second-largest margin of victory (88) in school history.

The Conquerors scored first on a three-pointer, but the hosts responded with 20 unanswered. Ahead 36-14 with eight minutes to go until halftime, the navy and gold closed out the period on a 33-8 run for a 69-22 intermission edge.

The home squad eclipsed the century mark with over 11 minutes left to play and the bench personnel took care of business down the stretch.

Marlon Alcindor (Sr., Queens, N.Y.) headlined the offense with 26 points, including six three-pointers. Six of his teammates joined him in double figures, including Abrian Edwards (Austin, Texas) with 16 points on 8-for-9 shooting and Omar Sherman (Sr., Duncanville, Texas) with 14 points on 7-for-8 from the field.

TaJuan Johnson (Jr., Chicago, Ill.), with 12 points, Demarius Cager (Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky.), with 11 points, and Walker Korell (Jr., Fredrick, Colo.) and Malyk Thomas (So., Copperas Cove, Texas), with 10 points each, also hit the double-digit mark.

Eddie Daley (So., DeWitt, Mich., Sports Management) led the rest of the group with six points, a team-best 10 rebounds, and two blocks. Cager also had two blocks in addition to a trio of steals.

Darius Wheeler (Sr., Jonesboro, Ga., Sports Administration) was in the giving mood Saturday as he topped the navy and gold with seven assists.

The Statesmen forced 22 turnovers, while committing just 11 mistakes, and also hit 14 three-pointers.

Next Up: William Penn travels to Lincoln, Ill. next Wednesday to face Lincoln in non-conference action at 7 p.m.