Statesmen Fall in Matchup of Top-25 Programs

Sioux City--The William Penn men's basketball team rallied in the second half, but could not get over the hump as it fell 85-77 to #24 Briar Cliff in a non-conference battle Friday.

The seventh-ranked Statesmen (2-1) were outshot 50.9%-47.6% on the night, but more importantly committed 17 turnovers, compared to just 10 by the Chargers (2-1). The mistakes led to a 20-5 deficit in points off turnovers, which the visitors could not overcome in the end.

Down 17-15 at the first timeout, WPU allowed Briar Cliff to go on an 8-0 run and the Statesmen trailed 28-17 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half.

The Statesmen who remained down by double digits at halftime (43-31), scored seven in a row to pull within three inside of 13 minutes left in the game. After a mini BCU run, Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) made a layup to make it a two-point contest at the 8:15 mark. The sides exchanged points, including free throws by Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management), but unfortunately a 12-3 Charger run put the game out of reach.

Cruesoe led the Statesmen in scoring with 22 points along with seven assists.

Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master's of Organizational Leadership) dropped in 13 points in addition to eight rebounds, while James Pennington (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) joined the double-digit club with 12 points.

Rodrigo Soares (So., Dallas, Texas, Sports Management) headlined the bench with 13 points and five rebounds.

"Briar Cliff has a really good team," said Head Coach John Henry. "They are going to be tough for anybody to beat at their home gym."

Up Next: William Penn is off for more than a week, returning to Oskaloosa on November 15 to host Bethel (Ind.) in non-conference action at 6 p.m.