Thomas Goes Off For 35 as Men's Basketball Upsets No. 19 WPU
Seward, NE – The Hastings College men’s basketball team knocked off No. 19 William Penn 88-77 to open up the Cattleman’s Classic on Friday night hosted by Concordia University.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
36 | 41 | 77 |
|
|
47 | 41 | 88 |
Team Stats
William Penn (IA)
| Game Statistics | William Penn (IA) | Hastings |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (33-65) | (31-60) |
| Field Goal % | 50.8% | 51.7% |
| Rebounds | 36 | 34 |
| Assists | 13 | 17 |
| Turnovers | 19 | 18 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 13 | 24 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 19 | 14 |
| Pts in the Paint | 48 | 46 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 10 | 2 |
| Bench Pts | 17 | 32 |
Seward, NE – The Hastings College men's basketball team knocked off No. 19 William Penn 88-77 to open up the Cattleman's Classic on Friday night hosted by Concordia University.
This was a game where the teams went back-and-forth early in the contest until Quinn Johnson made back-to-back threes as the Broncos opened up and eight-point lead at 26-18 with 9:25 to go in the first half.
The Statesmen would get to within three a few times but Reggie Thomas would connect on back-to-back tough layups as the lead grew to seven at 32-25 with 6:26 to go in the first half. The lead hovered around seven until Tyrique McMurrin gave Hastings its first double digit lead of the game by draining a three with 5:30 to go in the half.
Hastings built the lead to as many as 13 behind another tough layup from Thomas and a couple of free throws from Johnson. The Broncos would take an 11-point lead into the halftime break.
WPU would make things interesting early in the second half getting to within two following a Jaz Farrell three and then tied the game at 55 when Manny Hammonds drained a jumper. Hastings countered with a Quinn 3-pointer followed by a McMurrin layup. Two more free throws from Johnson and the lead stood at seven 62-55 with 10:37 to play.
Hastings continued to build on that lead with tough layups from Thomas plus some free throws. At one point, Thomas went off on a run of his own a 9-2 as the lead grew to 71-59. Grady Corrigan collected the pass from Thomas for a layup plus a free throw and then a layup from Nolan Sughroue as Hastings had its largest lead up to this point at 76-59 with 4:38 to go.
From there The Statesman attempted to extend the game with fouls but the Broncos would finish up the upset over WPU 88-77.
Thomas finished with a career high 35 points on 13-for-18 shooting including going 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Johnson added a career high 18 points on 4-for-9 shooting and was 4-for-8 from behind the arc and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.
William Penn edged Hastings in rebounds 36-to-34.
The Broncos finished the game shooting 51.7 percent (31-for-60) while the Statesmen shot 50.8 percent (33-for-65) but the main difference in the game was at the line as HC connected on 20-of-26 shots compared to just 6-for-13 for WPU.
Hastings improves to 2-0 on the year and will be back in action Saturday Nov. 4 finishing up the Cattleman's Classic against Mayville State with tipoff set for 12:00 pm inside Friedrich Arena in Seward, NE.
