Box Score The Basics
Score: No. 3 William Penn 103, Evangel 68
Records: Evangel (9-12, 8-8), William Penn (16-1, 14-1)
Location: Penn Gymnasium
Box Score
OSKALOOSA, Iowa – An early second-half scoring run by No. 3 William Penn helped the Statesmen pull away for a 103-68 victory over Evangel Saturday in Heart of America Athletic Conference action at Penn Gymnasium.
The Statesmen scored the first 10 points of the second half as part of a 35-14 spurt that turned a 47-36 halftime edge into a 32-point margin that the Crusaders would never seriously threaten.
William Penn showed off its prowess as the nation's No. 2 scoring offense, shooting 0.582 (39-of-67) for the game and topping the 100-point plateau for the 10th time in 17 games this season. WPU finished with six players in double figures, led by Karmari Newman's 14 points.
Ike Egwu paced the Crusaders with a season-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, as Evangel shot just 0.338 (26-of-77) as a team.
After the Statesmen sprinted from the gate to build a 10-point lead in the first five minutes of the contest, the Crusaders mounted a run of their own to close the gap. A Cade Coffman three-pointer—the 127th of his EU career—and a Manrique Alvarado bucket pulled the Crusaders to within 16-11.
William Penn answered with an 8-4 run to stretch the margin to nine, but another 5-0 EU spurt minutes later closed the gap even further. Stephen Salvi sank a trey, and Edriel Martinborough's basket at the 10:17 mark drew the Crusaders to within four points.
But WPU responded to score 18 of the next 24 points to extend the difference back to double-digits, as Brandon Faison drilled three-straight free-throw tries and Kevion Blaylock converted a pair of field goals to hand the Statesmen a 34-22 lead.
A balanced WPU lineup that featured nine different scorers in the opening half continued to add to the Statesmen lead, stretching the margin to as many as 18 points. WPU shot 0.613 (19-of-31) in the opening half to offset 11 turnovers.
Evangel cut into the deficit behind a balanced effort of its own, scoring 12 of the last 17 points of the half. All nine Crusaders who saw action in the opening half broke into the scoring column, including Egwu, who scored six of his eight first-half points during EU's spurt to close the half.
But it would be all William Penn after intermission, using an Ahmad Pender bucket 11 seconds into the second half to kick off what would be the deciding run.
EU would slice the gap to 20 late in the contest with a 9-0 spurt, getting a pair of baskets from Martinborough, who finished with 14 points.
UP NEXT
Evangel returns to the Ashcroft Center next Saturday (Feb. 6) for a 4 p.m., Heart Conference contest against Peru State.
For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, follow the Crusaders on Facebook at Facebook.com/EUAthletics, Twitter (@EUAthletics), or visit EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the new Evangel Crusaders GamedayApp through Google Play.
—EvangelAthletics.com—
