Springfield, Mo.–The William Penn men’s basketball team received big help from its bench to claim victory in its longest league road trip of the year, defeating Evangel 77-59 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.
#2 WPU (20-3, 16-3 Heart), courtesy of Grand View’s loss to Central Methodist, is now once again 1.5 games up on the Vikings as well as Benedictine. The win also marks the fifth year in a row that the program has reached 20 wins; William Penn has now accomplished the feat 10 times in the last 13 seasons.
Three Statesmen reached double figures, but none came from the starting lineup as the victors had 49 points from the bench.
The visitors outshot the Crusaders (9-15, 6-14 Heart) 43.8%-28.6% in the first half as they settled on a 34-25 halftime lead. The lead was as big as 16 (30-14), but EU closed strong to get within single digits.
William Penn again pulled ahead by double figures after intermission, but had trouble shaking its host, leading just 46-41 with 11:06 remaining in regulation. Still up just seven with 8:30 left, the Statesmen doubled the advantage with seven in a row and cruised to finish off the season sweep.
WPU ended the evening with a strong 49.2% shooting mark (36.0% 3-PT), while limiting Evangel to only 35.4% (16.0% 3-PT).
Dashawn Benson (Jr., Uniondale, N.Y., Sociology) played in just 14 minutes, but was incredible in that short period as he was 7-for-8 for 17 points; he made all three of his trifectas and corralled eight rebounds as well.
Benson’s eight boards were part of a 46-36 rebounding advantage for WPU. Free throws (WPU was 8-for-13, EU was 9-for-15) and turnovers (only two points were scored off of turnovers) did not factor into the contest.
Fellow non-starters Jeremy Postell (Sr., Atlanta, Ga., Sociology), with 16 points (four three-pointers), and Corbin Medley (Jr., Rogersville, Mo., General Accounting), with 10 (two long balls), also eclipsed the double-digit mark.
Torren Jones (Sr., Chandler, Ariz., Sociology) posted eight points with eight rebounds, while Brandon Trotter (Jr., Louisville, Ky., Kinesiology) matched him with eight of his own.
Lionel Ellison (Sr., New Orleans, La., Kinesiology) and Charles Knowles (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) finished the victory with six points apiece; Ellison also managed six assists and two steals.
“Dashawn, Jeremy, and Corbin were awesome off the bench; really, our entire bench was great,” Head Coach John Henry said. “I really like hearing and watching everyone being genuinely happy as a team, like they were today. This is such a fun group to be around.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Wednesday to host MidAmerica Nazarene in Heart action at 7:30 p.m.
Story provided by Wade Steinlage
