Second Half Sinks William Penn Against Culver-Stockton

Canton, Mo.--The Statesmen men's basketball team had another solid first half, but it was negated by a disappointing second stanza as it fell 102-74 to Culver-Stockton in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Wednesday.

WPU (5-15, 4-15 Heart), which was outshot 54.1%-43.3%, trailed by just five at halftime, but could not keep pace in the final 20 minutes against the Wildcats (8-10, 6-8 Heart).

Manny Hammonds (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa, New Media) hit a three-pointer on the first possession of the game and the navy and gold went back and forth with C-SC for the opening parts of the contest.  The home team then pulled out to a 10-point edge at 28-18, but the visitors returned to the lead at 39-37 on another long ball by Hammonds.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats closed stronger and held a 48-43 advantage at intermission.

Down just eight at 59-51 with 16:19 to go, William Penn, which posted a 47-33 margin in rebounding, allowed Culver-Stockton to score 10 in a row and the visitors never got back in the game.

The rebounding edge was converted into a 23-8 advantage in second-chance points for the visiting crew, but the Statesmen could not overcome numerous other troubles, including turning the ball over 25 times (13 for C-SC).  Those errors led to WPU being outscored 21-9 in points off mistakes.

William Penn made two more free throws than C-SC (11-9), but came up well short from behind the arc; the Wildcats were 13-for-26, while the Statesmen were 5-for-15.

Shug Sneed (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Business Management) tallied a team-best 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, while Hammonds also reached double digits with 13 points (three three-pointers).

The duo of Jayvin Brown (So., Waldorf, Md., Wellness and Recreation) and Justin Bradley (Jr., Okinawa, Japan, Biology) just missed double figures with nine each, while Ontario Chapman (Sr., Evanston, Ill., Psychology) was next with eight points.

Willie Anderson (Jr., Norristown, Pa., Applied Computer Science) and Jaz Farrell (Sr., Miramar, Fla., Interdisciplinary Studies) added six each, while Marcus Bell (Sr., Shreveport, La., Exercise Science) pulled down a WPU-high seven rebounds.  Farrell recorded three assists as well Wednesday.

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Benedictine in Heart play at 4 p.m.