OSKALOOSA — The William Penn men’s basketball team partook in a dogfight Saturday night, coming out on top 90-81 over #4 seed Baker in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals.
The top-seeded Statesmen (27-3), who avenged their lone conference loss of the year, were again dominant rebounders with a 54-32 advantage. Amongst that tally were 19 offensive rebounds, leading to 17 second-chance points. The victors shot 45.2% from the field, but only 26.1% from behind the arc. To rectify that, WPU scored more than half of its points in the paint (50).
In a game that saw nine ties and 12 lead changes, most of the first half stayed within a couple points, with the teams exchanging blows back and forth. WPU got out to an early at 8-4, but Baker countered. The Wildcats, who shot 39.3% overall, eventually went on a late run and entered halftime up by six at 42-36.
The second half showed the aforementioned BU advantage get extended to eight before WPU started to turn it around. A 14-2 run, however, put the Statesmen up on top for good. Baker cut the lead to four at 80-76, but William Penn closed the game out with free throws. Overall, the hosts were a bit under par at 18-for-30, while the Wildcats stayed in the contest with an applause-worthy 26-for-30 effort.
WPU also overcame 16 turnovers (just 11 for BU), which turned into a 21-13 mark in points off mistakes for the visitors.
Nearly all of the offense came from the starters as all five hit double digits and four either had or just narrowly missed double-doubles.
Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master’s of Organizational Leadership), who was in considerably better health than he was on Thursday, led the victors with 21 points and nine points.
Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) put up numbers all over the board, recording one of those double-doubles with 17 points and 10 rebounds; he also dished out six assists. Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) was in the same boat as Daley, finishing the night just shy with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Malik Edwards (Fr., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management) and James Pennington (Sr., Calumet City, Ill., Sports Management) each scored 13 points as well. Pennington matched Cruesoe with a double-double of his own by recording 10 rebounds.
“This was a total team and staff effort,” Head Coach John Henry said. “We are very happy to return the favor to Baker and avenge our only league loss of the year.”
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Tuesday to host #2 seed Peru State in the Heart Tournament Championship at 7 p.m.
