Box Score ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] A late push from No. 3 William Penn spoiled the Spartans upset bid Saturday afternoon in the team's 103-97 loss. The Statesmen won the seesaw battle after both teams led throughout the contest.
MBU (4-2) trailed by double digits, 22-12 at the 12:55 mark of the first half. Then, last night's main offensive weapon, Luke Call, made sure William Penn wouldn't pull away any further. The sophomore, who had 23 points against Avila a day earlier, went on a personal 8-0 run to get the Spartans within two points.
The top-ranked Statesmen carried a single-digit lead until the 6:00 mark when MBU went on a run. A bucket from Jared White tied the game at 31-31 and the senior gave MBU its first lead with 5:31 left in the first half with two free throws. White led offensively on Saturday and notched his first double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Jahmouri Robinson and Luke Finley helped give the Spartans a six-point lead and MBU would lead throughout the rest of the half. Two free throws from Finley and a bucket from James McKelvin in the final seconds put the Spartans ahead 45-38 at the break. Finley, a freshman out of Lafayette High School, scored six points over the final 4:27 of the half and had a season-high nine points.
MBU led by as many as eight in the second half on three separate occasions. 3-pointers from White and Will Harrington pushed the Spartan lead to that figure, as did a bucket from David Gabrovsek to give the Spartans a 59-51 lead with 15:58 left. As a team, MBU shot 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) from 3-point range in the second half.
However, strong shooting from William Penn down the stretch helped the Statesmen escape with the victory. WPU shot 57.5 percent in the final 20 minutes led by a balanced attack. Dashawn Benson (15), Corbin Medley (14) and Lionel Ellison (12) all had double-figure point totals in the second half. Charles Knowles finished the game with a team-high 19 points and Torren Jones had 18 points and 18 rebounds.
Penn chipped in to the Spartan lead, but didn't take its first lead of the half until 10 minutes remaining. The teams then traded baskets and one from Johnny Benson gave the Spartans the lead back momentarily at 73-71 with 8:26 to go.
A DeShawn Benson two gave the Statesmen the lead later on and they wouldn't trail again. The Spartans got within four with 3:37 left but couldn't get the stops they needed to pull off the upset. Harrington had a season-high 17 points in the game and eight assists. Gabrovsek and Call also each finished with 11 points.
The Spartans now enter conference play on Thursday Dec. 1st at William Woods. Tip is set for 7:30 pm.
