Monster win for Wesleyan men

MT. PLEASANT — The biggest game of the season so far turned into the biggest win of the season as Iowa Wesleyan prevailed in an intrastate clash with 13th-ranked William Penn on Tuesday night.

The Tigers and Statesman traded punches all night, but it was Iowa Wesleyan that had the knockout blow in an 85-81 victory.

Iowa Welsyean led 42-37 at the half, but William Penn came back to take the lead on a layup with 14 minutes and 31 seconds remaining in the game. Iowa Wesleyan responded with a game-tying layup by Victor Munoz, and the go-ahead dunk by Hakeem Odunsi.

The Tigers rushed back out to a double-digit lead, reaching as high as a13-point advantage. William Penn, however, had another run left in them.

The Statesmen cut the lead all the way down to two points when a William Penn 3-pointer sank with 41 seconds left. Iowa Wesleyan had the ball up 83-81.

The Tigers and Statesmen traded four turnovers in a wild final 40 seconds that concluded with Allante Pickens on the free-throw line for Iowa Wesleyan with just one second remaining. He drained both shots to put the game on ice.

Odunsi had a huge game off the bench for Iowa Wesleyan, scoring 16 points and pulling down nine rebounds. He also finished the night with two steals.

Carver Locke scored 16 points of his own, and pulled down seven rebounds as well. Pickens finished the night with 15 points and two steals. Henry Shannon scored 15. Munoz had eight. Francis Okwuosah had seven, and both Joey Brown IV and Gacoby Jones finished with four.

Iowa Wesleyan is now 9-1 on the year having won its last nine games. The red-hot Tigers will host Waldorf University next Wednesday, Nov. 30.