Statesmen Top Vikings in Road Rivalry Game

Des Moines--In what is considered one of the top rivalries in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, the William Penn men's basketball team took care of Grand View 91-69 Wednesday.

William Penn (6-2, 2-0 Heart), which outshot Grand View (2-6, 0-2 Heart) 52.1%-37.1% in the victory, has won by 15 or more points in its past three outings versus the Vikings.

In addition to their shooting success, the victors also controlled the boards, outrebounding GVU 44-28 and posting a 12-3 edge in second-chance points.

The game was back and forth to start, but after gaining the lead back with 14:12 left in the first half, the Statesmen never trailed again.

WPU headed into halftime up 42-31 and refused to let the Vikings challenge in the second half as the margin remained in double figures the entire final 20 minutes.

William Penn had eight players score at least six points, headlined by Malik Edwards (Fr., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management) with a team-best 20 points.  Daniel Autrey (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Business Management) continued to be on fire from behind the arc, raining in six three-pointers in an 18-point effort off the bench.  While Autrey was proficient (6-for-10), the Statesmen finished just 12-for-33 (36.4%) from the perimeter; the Vikings went 10-for-29 (34.5%).

James Pennington (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Sports Management) was next in scoring with 17 points, while Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master's of Organizational Leadership) chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.

Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) posted a solid all-around stat line of seven points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) contributed seven points of his own, while pulling down a team-high 11 rebounds.

Brian Rios (Jr., El Paso, Texas, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) and Rodrigo Soares (So., Dallas, Texas, Sports Management) each had six points as well in non-starting roles.  The Statesmen bench outscored Grand View 30-19.

Both squads committed 14 turnovers, but the visitors came out on top 17-10 in points off mistakes.

"We prepared really well; the assistant coaches and scout team did a really good job getting us ready," Head Coach John Henry said.  "We again played pretty well on the road. James Pennington was aggressive in finding his own shots; we really like that about his game."

Up Next: The Statesmen will return to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Benedictine in Heart action at 4 p.m.