William Penn Fails to Claim Road Win at MMU

Cedar Rapids--The Statesmen men's basketball team could not find much success Tuesday as it fell 92-73 to Mount Mercy in Heart of America Athletic Conference play.

WPU (2-6, 1-3 Heart) was outshot 53.2%-41.8%, but held a 38-33 advantage in rebounding.  Unfortunately, 21 turnovers (11 for MMU) also doomed the visitors as they were outscored 18-10 in points off mistakes.

Mike Elliott (So., Indianapolis, Ind., Business Management) knocked down a three-pointer in the first few seconds of the evening, but the Mustangs (1-5, 1-2) owned the rest of the first half.  Down 44-31, the Statesmen did use a 10-2 run to get within five at 46-31, but they would never get any closer.

Elliott had a big outing, posting a WPU season-best 31 points on 12-for-22 shooting.  He made six of his 11 three-pointers in Tuesday's matchup.

Unfortunately, he was the lone William Penn cager to reach double digits as Shug Sneed (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Computer Science) was next with nine points in addition to three assists.  Jason Priah (Jr., Shaker Heights, Ohio, Computer Science) added eight points, while the duo of Larontae Mormant (Sr., Bloomington, Minn., Business Management) and Justin Bradley (Jr., Okinawa, Japan, Biology) both finished with six.

Jaz Farrell (Sr., Miramar, Fla., Undecided) recorded a team-best eight rebounds and the Statesmen managed a 12-9 advantage in second-chance points.

The visiting crew did well behind the arc at 40.9% (9-for-22) and at the free-throw line (18-for-23 for 78.3%), but could not keep pace with Mount Mercy.

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Wednesday to host Culver-Stockton in Heart play at 7:30 p.m.