OSKALOOSA — The Statesmen men’s basketball team closed strong to claim a hard-fought 91-83 victory over Heart of America Athletic Conference competitor Central Methodist Saturday.
William Penn (5-1, 2-0 Heart) traded early leads with CMU (4-2, 1-1 Heart), culminating in a 16-16 tie at 9:53 in the first half. The Statesmen broke the deadlock with an 18-6 scoring run, building momentum to eventually to take a 42-35 lead into halftime. WPU maintained control over the Eagles despite being outshot 37.0%-35.9% at the break.
Jacore Williams (Jr., Little Rock, Ark., Business Management) chipped in all nine of his points by intermission, while Manny Hammonds (So., Des Moines, Iowa, New Media) added eight points.
The second half saw the Eagles claw back into the game, scoring the first nine points of the second stanza. The navy and gold fought back, however, and went back on top 61-52 with 13:57 to go. The see-sawing continued, however, as CMU eventually took its final lead at 83-82 with 2:38 to go.
A pair of Jamir Reed (Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., Criminology) free throws then gave the Statesmen the edge back for good, and Naysean Baisy (Sr., Seattle, Wash., Sports Management) hit a three-point dagger the next time down.
Isaac Hoberecht (Jr., Carl Junction, Mo., Business Management) eventually iced the game with a free throw, combined with a steal and layup on the other end to cap the scoring.
Overall, the navy and gold were outshot 47.5%-38.6%, but made up for it by turning CMU over 21 times and converting those errors into 29 points. WPU committed just nine turnovers Saturday.
WPU also came up short on the glass at 43-35, but posted a slight edge offensively at 13-11. Both squads managed 10 second-chance points.
Despite the shooting deficit, the Statesmen were better from behind the three-point arc, going 11-for-27 (40.7%), while the Eagles were just 5-for-19 (26.3%). Both sides were exceptional at the free-throw line with WPU going 26-for-33 (78.8%) and Central Methodist finishing 20-for-26 (76.9%).
Hammonds led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 7-for-14 from the field and an impressive 5-for-9 from the three-point line. He also tallied five rebounds.
Baisy came on strong in the second half, scoring 16 of his 18 points after the break. Hoberecht and Reed both hit double figures as well with 11 points apiece, while Williams just missed the mark with nine.
Malique Oates (Jr., Huntsville, Ala., Sports Management) and Yarayah Evans (Fr., Brooklyn, N.Y., Business Management) contributed eight points each as well.
“This was a gritty and very solid win for us,” said Head Coach John Henry. “Naysean Baisy and Manny Hammonds came alive tonight and really gave us a huge boost offensively.”
