Park University's men's basketball program took on William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa on Saturday evening, ending in a Statesmen win in final moments 85-82.

The Pirates are down to 7-11 on the season and 5-9 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. This also marks a three-game losing streak for the Pirates. William Penn on the other hand is now 5-13 and 4-10 in the Heart.

Park's Augusto Hausmann and AJ Watson got the Pirates off to a 6-2 start over William Penn. In a flash, an 8-0 run by the Statesmen gave them a 10-6 lead and forced a Park timeout at 17:29. After some back-and-forth, the Statesmen again went on the attack with a 4-0 run lead 16-9 with 15:23 to go. Jasigha Barnes and Kaden Paul came up big with seven points to tie the game at 16. Barnes knocked down the key three-pointer to even things up at 13:17. The teams would have three more ties without a change in lead to the 7:38 mark left to play in the first half. At a tie game 24-24, William Penn then spouted off a 12-0 run to take a firm grip on the momentum with 4:53 remaining., 36-24. Watson and Barnes both took matters into their own hands with five points each in the next few minutes to keep things within reach, including another three-pointer by Barnes to come within nine points of William Penn, 43-34 with 2:12 to go. In the remaining minutes of the half, Park outscored the Statesmen 7-4 to end the half down six to William Penn, 47-41.

Hausmann and Watson opened the second half with some good scoring possessions for Park, but despite their efforts the Statesmen remained out front by at least three until the 15:10 mark when DeMarcus Hudson rained down a three to come within two points, 54-52. Another dart by Hudson gave Park its first lead in the second half at 55-54 with 14:19 left to play. A 5-0 run by William Penn immediately returned the lead to the home team and Park would not regain the lead again until the 9:41 mark. At this point, a three by Barnes and a two-point jumper by Eli Habighorst pu the Pirates out front 64-63. Barnes had three made three-pointers in the game and the junior from Long Island, N.Y. gave a good boost to his team. Neither team was going away in this tight contest, as the lead changed seven times from 8:06 to 4:46 to go. Back-to-back three-pointers by the Statesmen gave them a 4-point lead, 80-76, which would be the last time the lead would change. Park had some good possessions to stay in reach, but a fatal three-pointer by William Penn at the 53 second mark was the game-winner for the Statesmen for the 85-82 win.

Park shot 42.9-percent on the game, while the Statesmen were slightly higher at 46.7-percent from the field.

Both teams were similar from three-point range, six-of-20 for Park and seven-of-17 for the Statesmen.

Each side made 22 free-throws on the game, 78.6-percent for Park and 84.6-percent for William Penn.

Despite 18 turnovers by William Penn and allowing 24 points the other way off those turnovers the Statesmen were able to prevail. The Pirates had seven less turnovers and only 14 points were scored off turnovers by the Statesmen.

William Penn did have the advantage on second chance points though with 15 compared to only nine for the Pirates.

For the game there were six ties and the lead changed hands 11 times.

Watson scored a team-high 19 points on the day, including six-of-eight from the line. Hudson, Hausmann, and Barnes were also in double-figures with 17, 16, and 14; respectively.

Gagi Gvalia helped the Pirates cause with eight points on the day and a team-leading six rebounds. Hausmann was the next rebounder in the box score for the Pirates with five boards.

The Pirates take on Baker University in their next game at 7:30pm on Wednesday, January 24 in Breckon Sports Center. WATCH
Box Score