Statesmen Remain Perfect in League and at Home By Dropping GU

Oskaloosa--The William Penn men's basketball team controlled the game for most of the night on its way to an 80-72 win over Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Graceland Wednesday.

William Penn (10-2, 6-0 Heart), which is perfect in Penn Gymnasium this year, won its sixth game in a row as it only trailed once, despite being outshot 49.2%-49.1%.  The difference in the contest came at the free-throw line (16-6 edge in made shots) and three-point arc (8-2 advantage), while the hosts also posted a 39-32 rebounding advantage over Graceland (6-6, 2-5 Heart).

Malik Edwards (Fr., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management) started the game off with a three-pointer as part of an 11-4 opening for the Statesmen.  The Yellowjackets answered, however, and claimed their lone edge at 18-16, forcing a WPU timeout.

The Statesmen came out of the huddle a different crew, scoring six unanswered and never trailing again.  A putback by Daniel Autrey (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Business Management) allowed the navy and gold to close out the half on a mini 5-0 run and post a 42-32 halftime lead.

William Penn slowly extended its margin in the second stanza, eventually going up 16 points at 58-42 on layup from Rodrigo Soares (So., Dallas, Texas, Sports Management).  The home squad kept GU at a comfortable distance, including being up 70-56 with just over six minutes left.

Unfortunately, the Yellowjackets refused to go away and eventually trimmed the deficit to six at 74-68 with 1:50 on the clock.  Needing an immediate stop to the slow bleed, the Statesmen looked to Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) and he delivered with four straight free throws on the team's next two possessions to put the game away.  Overall, WPU connected on 69.6% of its tries at the charity stripe.

William Penn overcame some difficulty in maintaining possession as it committed 14 turnovers, compared to 10 for the Yellowjackets.

Autrey dropped 18 points in a non-starting role, while also pulling down six rebounds.  Right behind him was Cruesoe with 15 points, while Edwards and Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) both had 12. Newton recorded a double-double, adding in 11 rebounds.

Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master's of Organizational Leadership) also tallied six points and nine rebounds, while Soares contributed five in the victory.

Up Next: William Penn will play its final game of 2022 Saturday, traveling to Olathe, Kan. to face MidAmerica Nazarene in Heart play at 4 p.m.