Oskaloosa–One of the best halves of the year propelled the Statesmen men’s basketball team to an easy 85-58 Heart of America Athletic Conference win over Peru State Wednesday.
#4 WPU (17-2, 13-2 Heart) outscored Peru State 45-19 in the first half and cruised to its sixth win in a row.
The hosts trailed 6-4 in the first two minutes of action, but took the advantage back for good at 10-8. Up just 14-11 seven minutes into the night, the Statesmen put the game on its head with 17 unanswered points and continued to increase the lead entering intermission.
Unfortunately, with the score so lopsided, neither squad played quite well in the early minutes of the second stanza. WPU, which outshot the Bobcats 43.5%-32.3%, only hit 31.4% of its second-half tries, but never allowed PSC (7-13, 6-10 Heart) to get closer than 22 points.
The victors dominated the boards 55-35 and also turned the ball over just 12 times, compared to 15 by Peru State. William Penn owned a 15-4 mark in points off turnovers and an 11-4 advantage in second-chance points. The Statesmen also topped the visitors 18-7 in made free throws.
Torren Jones (Sr., Chandler, Ariz., Sociology) headlined the matchup with a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Elijah Williams (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) produced 12 points off the bench on 4-for-4 shooting. Lionel Ellison (Sr., New Orleans, La., Kinesiology) also reached double figures with 10 points.
Jeremy Postell (Sr., Atlanta, Ga., Sociology) was strong in a non-starting role as well with eight points and two steals, while Dashawn Benson (Jr., Uniondale, N.Y., Sociology) tallied six points.
The trio of Kevin Smith (Sr., Baltimore, Md., Physical Education), Kordario Fleming (Sr., Memphis, Tenn., Physical Education), and Kenneth Schell (So., Buena Vista, Colo., Psychology) all contributed five points Wednesday. Smith also managed five assists.
“We played really great basketball in the first half, especially defensively,” Head Coach John Henry said. “We were distracted in the second half by the lopsided score, but the objective is to win the game, so we will take it and get better from it. All wins in this conference are good wins.”
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Saturday to host Baker in Heart action at 2 p.m.
Story provided by Wade Steinlage
