Cruesoe Leads Statesmen to Road Win

Chicago Ill.--The William Penn men's basketball team finished off a two-game road trip with a 90-81 win over Governors State in non-conference play Saturday.

The new-look Statesmen (2-0), who continue to develop as a team, struggled a bit in the first half. They were outshot 48.1%-44.1% through the first 20 minutes, but still led 45-43 going into the break.

WPU had been down most of the first half until a late run, led by Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management), allowed them to regain control. Cruesoe finished with 24 points on 7-for-13 shooting (10-for-12 FT) to go along with nine assists and four steals.

Daniel Autrey (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Business Management) was big off the bench as he poured in all 11 of his points in the first half on 3-for-6 three-point shooting. Brian Rios (Jr., El Paso, Texas, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) also provided 10 big points off the bench before intermission. Overall, Rios finished with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting.

The second half was just as competitive with Governors State pulling ahead by as many as five points at 54-49, but WPU tied it back up a few minutes later.

William Penn eventually took the lead for good with 7:31 remaining on a jumper by Cruesoe. The Statesmen were able to hold off the Jaguars down the stretch, going 18-for-24 at the charity stripe.

WPU overcame 17 turnovers (14 for GSU) by outrebounding the Jaguars 46-35. The squad was actually outscored 16-11 in second-chance points and 14-8 in points off turnovers, but posted a 10-4 edge in three-pointers.

While Cruesoe blazed the trail, the rest of the starters produced good numbers behind him as well. Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) and Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master's of Organizational Leadership) each recorded eight points and seven rebounds. Following his career night on Friday, Malik Edwards (Fr., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management) was held to seven points.

Fellow starter James Pennington (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) added in six points, while Rodrigo Soares (So., Dallas, Texas, Sports Management) was also a big contributor with 10 points in a non-starting role.

"We collected two good wins over the weekend against solid competition," said Head Coach John Henry. "Traveling all the way to Chicago for the first two games of the season is not easy and we got wins in both of them, so we are happy with this start."

Up Next: The Statesmen will be back in action next Friday, traveling to Sioux City to face Briar Cliff in a non-conference matchup at 7 p.m.