Men's Basketball Stopped by Statesmen

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Graceland University Men's Basketball team took on the William Penn University (Iowa) Statesmen and were defeated, 72-80. They move to 6-6 on the season and are 2-5 in the Heart.

Graceland (6-6, 2-5) | William Penn (10-2, 6-0)
Half 1: Graceland 32 | William Penn 42
The Statemen would rush to an early lead against the Yellowjackets 6-14. Both teams would put point-for-point on the board. Sam'i Roe's made layup would give Graceland the push for a scoring run of 10 points to take the lead (18-16). The Statesmen would retaliate and retake the lead. C.J. Wilson would close the gap to three points with just under the 5-minute mark (30-33). William Penn would cash in five points to lead by 10-points heading into halftime.
Half 2: Graceland 40 | William Penn 38
The Statesmen would extend their lead to 16 points over the Yellowjackets (36-52). With just under two minutes of play, C.J. Wilson would close the gap to six points by sinking a three-pointer while also getting fouled, and he would cash in the charity stripe (68-74). The Statesmen would be able to hold onto their lead in the final minutes of the game (72-80).

Key Moment
The Statesmen would have a shooting percentage of 60.9 percent (14-23) in field goals, 58.3 percent (7 -12) in three-pointers and 77.8 percent (7-9) in free throws in the first half.

By the Numbers:
32-28 – Graceland's field goals compared to William Penn's
69.6-60.0 – The Statesmen charity strip percentage compared to the Yellowjackets
48-36- They Yellowjackets would earn 12 more points in the paint than the Statesmen
33-28 – William Penn's bench would sink five more than Graceland's bench

Graceland Leaders:
Scoring Leader: Sam'i Roe – 20
Rebounding Leader: Seth Compas – 6
Assist Leader: C.J. Wilson / Trenton Daughtry – 2
Steal Leader: Sam'i Roe – 3

William Penn Leaders:
Scoring Leader: Daniel Autrey – 18
Rebounding Leader: Daniel Autrey – 11
Assist Leader: James Pennington – 5
Steal Leader: Jayvin Brown – 2

Up Next:
The Men's Basketball team will be back in the new year on Wednesday, January 4 when they take on the Peru State University Bobcats. Tip-of is set for 7:30 pm.

-Yellowjackets-