William Penn Opens 2024 Calendar Year with 83-77 Loss to Bobcats

Oskaloosa--The Statesmen men's basketball team could not overcome a tough night from behind the arc along with a lack of free throws as it fell 83-77 to Peru State in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Saturday.

WPU (4-10, 3-7 Heart) outshot the Bobcats 44.3%-38.9% and held a 47-45 edge in rebounding, but failed to get past the visiting crew.  The biggest culprits were an 11.8% effort in three-point shooting and just five made free throws.  PSC (8-7, 4-7 Heart) posted a 29-9 advantage in free-throw attempts.

Jaz Farrell (Sr., Miramar, Fla., Undecided) scored on his team's first possession and the hosts grabbed an 8-5 edge after a layup by Jayvin Brown (So., Waldorf, Md., Business Management).  Unfortunately, Peru State scored 11 points in a row and stayed on top the remainder of the night.

WPU fought back and got within one at 40-39 at intermission.  Most of the second period witnessed the navy and gold face a deficit between five and 10 points, but the Statesmen kept plodding along.  Down 74-65 with 4:31 remaining, a pair of Manny Hammonds (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa, New Media) helped William Penn close the gap to three points at 76-73 as part of an 8-2 run.

Unfortunately, the home squad could get no closer down the stretch in the setback.

Despite the rebounding advantage, WPU was outscored 20-13 in second-chance points.  Both teams did well in ball control with the Statesmen committing eight and the Bobcats with just six mistakes.  That led to an 8-6 margin in points off turnovers in favor of PSC.

Shug Sneed (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Computer Science) paced the hosts with 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting.  The junior completed a double-double with 10 rebounds.  Hammonds was next in scoring with 14, while Farrell matched Sneed with a double-double of his own, tallying 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Brown added eight points, as did Willie Anderson (Jr., Norristown, Pa., Applied Computer Science) who led the bench in scoring.  Justin Bradley (Jr., Okinawa, Japan, Biology) contributed six points as well.

Marcus Bell (Sr., Shreveport, La., Wellness and Recreation) dished out a team-best four assists Saturday.

"We are very disappointed in this loss--as a group, team, and staff," Head Coach John Henry said.  "Peru State simply made more plays than we did and beat us."

Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa next Wednesday to host Central Methodist in Heart action at 7:30 p.m.