Second Half Propels Statesmen to Heart Win Over Mount Mercy

Oskaloosa--The William Penn men's basketball team utilized an incredible start to the second half to start the 2023 calendar year with a 97-83 win over Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Mount Mercy Wednesday.

WPU (12-2, 8-0 Heart) trailed 44-40 at halftime, but dominated the first part of the second stanza.  Playing nearly perfect in all aspects, the Statesmen scored 26 of the first 31 points of the period and eventually posted a 40-12 advantage after 10:33 of the half.

William Penn, which has won eight in a row, shot 56.7% from the field, while Mount Mercy (4-9, 1-7 Heart) was also prolific at a 50.0% clip. WPU only knocked down 28.0% of its three-pointers (7-for-25), but four of them came from Brian Rios (Jr., El Paso, Texas, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) in the aforementioned run.

Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master's of Organizational Leadership) scored a team-best 19 points, doing most of his damage in the opening minutes as he posted the Statesmen's first 11 points.  The sides went back and forth for most of the half, but Mount Mercy was able to claim the lead going into halftime, even in spite of a buzzer-beating dunk by Daniel Rosenber (So., Burnsville, Minn., Sports Management).

After intermission, Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) opened the navy and gold push with a pair of buckets; the junior finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and seven assists.  Eight different players tallied points in the run, headlined by Rios' four long balls for 12 points.

Mount Mercy unfortunately was able to fight back and take some of the luster from WPU's win.  The visitors trimmed the lead down to single digits at 92-83, but Malik Edwards (Fr., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management) sealed the win with a trio of free throws in the final minute.

The scoring was spread out as five different Statesmen reached double-digit points. In addition to Daley's 19 points, he also pulled down seven rebounds.  Edwards matched Cruesoe with 16 points, while Rios finished with 12, and Daniel Autrey (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Business Management) netted 11 alongside seven boards.

CJ Washington (Jr., Houston, Texas) had a strong season debut with seven points in a starting role, while fellow starter Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) had six points.

DJ Purnell (So., Minneapolis, Minn.), who, like Washington, was playing in his first game, chipped in seven points off the bench Wednesday.

The Statesmen held a 36-28 edge in rebounds and were slightly better in ball control (19 turnovers to 22 for MMU) in a sloppily-played contest.  Despite those advantages, WPU had to overcome being outscored 10-7 in second-chance points and 28-25 in points off turnovers.

"James Pennington and Rodrigo Soares were both out tonight with injuries, so we had to play some different lineups at times," said Head Coach John Henry.  "We didn't play well for most of the night, but we won and that is all that matters."

Next Up: William Penn will remain in Oskaloosa Saturday, hosting Park in Heart action at 4 p.m.