WPU Storms Back for Road Win over MidAmerica Nazarene

Olathe, Kan.--The William Penn's men's basketball team showed its resiliency, overcoming adversity all day to defeat (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene 97-92 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Saturday.

#17 WPU (11-2, 7-0 Heart), which won its seventh game in a row, had problems from the start as a bus breakdown forced the game to start over an hour later than scheduled.

Once on the hardwood, the Statesmen outrebounded MidAmerica Nazarene (10-3, 5-2 Heart) 47-30 with 19 of those coming on the offensive end.  That helped the visitors outscore the Pioneers 16-8 in second-chance points.

WPU needed that advantage on the glass as MNU found more success from the floor, outshooting the Statesmen 56.9%-46.1%.  The victors, however, went 10-for-25 from behind the arc (40.0%), while MNU was limited to 33.3% (4-for-12).  The navy and gold also excelled at the free-throw line, going 17-for-23 (73.9%); the Pioneers, conversely, were just 14-for-22 (63.6%).

The first half was controlled by MNU with the home squad running up a 22-10 lead at the midway point.  The Statesmen fought back with a jumper by Jayvin Brown (So., Waldorf, Md., Sports Management) eventually narrowing the deficit to one at 39-38.  MidAmerica Nazarene unfortunately closed out the period with four unanswered to lead 43-38 at intermission.

WPU came out of the locker room strong with Malik Edwards (Fr., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management) giving his team its first lead since early in the game at 48-45 on a three-pointer.  The score went back and forth over the next few minutes until a pair of free throws via Rodrigo Soares (So., Dallas, Texas, Sports Management) put the visitors on top for good at 73-72 with 7:54 left in regulation.

An Edwards' trifecta extended the Statesmen edge to a game-high eight at 89-81 with 3:47 left in the game.  MidAmerica Nazarene would not wave its white flag, though, and trimmed the margin to three in the final minute, but Edwards hammered the proverbial nail in the coffin with his sixth and final long ball.

The sophomore topped the Statesmen with 30 points, going 12-for-19 from the field and 6-for-9 from behind the arc.  Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) recorded his second straight double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while James Pennington (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Sports Management) was solid throughout with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master's of Organizational Leadership) tied Newton with 11 rebounds in addition to eight points. Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) did not have a strong offensive night, but did help to the tune of six assists and five rebounds.

William Penn dominated the bench comparison at 26-4 with Daniel Autrey (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Business Management) leading the way with 10 points.  Soares added nine, while Brown also finished with seven points of his own.

"We had a lot of distractions this week, even had a bus break down on the way to the game, but our players were able to gut this one out," Head Coach John Henry said. "Our rebounding effort was awesome, while the coaching staff also deserves big credit. This was an amazing win for us and for this group to be 7-0 in the league with four road wins feels great."

Up Next: William Penn will be off for a couple of weeks for Christmas break, returning to action on January 4 by hosting Mount Mercy in Heart play at 7:30 p.m.