OSKALOOSA — The Statesmen men’s basketball team weathered an ugly stretch of play midway through the second half and held off Culver-Stockton 84-76 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Wednesday.
#9 William Penn (19-2, 15-0 Heart) won its 15th game in a row, doing so despite connecting on just three of its 19 three-pointers (15.8%). Fortunately, the Statesmen were strong inside the arc (27-for-49, 55.1%), owning a 44.1%-40.0% overall shooting edge.
The victors also dominated the glass with a 50-32 rebounding margin, including a 15-6 mark on the offensive end which resulted in them outscoring the Wildcats (7-13, 3-12 Heart) 19-7 in second-chance points.
Aggressors throughout, the Statesmen got to the free-throw line 31 times, making 21 for a 66.7% clip, outscoring C-SC’s near-perfect outing of 14-for-16.
The visitors scored on their first possession and then tied the game at 5-5 a bit later, but a dunk by Muneer Newton (So., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) gave William Penn the lead for good.
Up by as many as 15 in the first half, WPU eventually settled on a 12-point halftime lead at 44-32, courtesy of a buzzer-beating jumper from Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management). The junior topped his crew with 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting, while also dishing out six assists.
William Penn extended its edge to a game-best 20 points at 54-34 with 16:51 to go, and remained in control at 60-42 with 13:20 on the clock.
The Wildcats then unfortunately knocked down a couple of shots and that momentum carried over the next four-plus minutes as the WPU advantage dwindled to just four at 61-57 with 8:39 left.
A layup via Malik Edwards (So., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management) stopped the hemorrhaging and the hosts quickly went back up by 13, but Culver-Stockton had one more fight left, though, and got within five at 81-76 with 37 ticks remaining.
A turnover gave possession right back to C-SC, but the visitors were turned away and James Pennington (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Sports Management) (one free throw) and Daniel Autrey (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Business Management) (two free throws) put the contest away in the waning seconds.
Both coming off the bench, Autrey scored 10 points and Pennington added eight more.
Newton recorded a big double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds (seven offensive), while Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master’s of Organizational Leadership) just missed the mark with nine points and 14 boards.
Edwards assisted the cause with nine points, while Jayvin Brown (Fr., Waldorf, Md., Sports Management) tallied all five of his points at the charity stripe.
WPU overcame two more turnovers than C-SC at 13-11 by posting a 10-7 margin in points off turnovers.
“Chanze Cruesoe hit some clutch baskets tonight at big times and we rebounded well, which was the biggest reason we won,” Head Coach John Henry said. “Culver-Stockton was nasty good tonight and I am happy to escape with this win.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Cedar Rapids Saturday to face Mount Mercy in Heart play at 4 p.m.
