The Central Methodist men's basketball team fell to No. 1 William Penn 92-81 in the semifinals of the Heart Conference Tournament Friday night in Oskaloosa, Iowa. 

Central drops to 22-10 on the season while the Statesmen improve to 29-1 and advance to the Heart title game for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. CMU handed the Statesmen the only loss of their season on December 8.

The Eagles offense jumped out in front early, opening the game on a 7-2 scoring run. Central maintained its lead through 10 minutes of the opening half leading by as many as seven points. William Penn battled back and evened the score at 22-22 and then took a one-point lead with 9:52 left in the half.  

WPU remained out in front for the rest of the first and took a 48-39 into the locker room at the halftime break. The Statesmen led by as many as 22 points in the second half, and would come away with an 11-point victory. 

For the second time against William Penn, sophomore guard Jonathan Brown dropped 30 points, shooting 11-of-19 from the field including four 3-pointers.

Senior Tim Cameron tallied 16 points and added five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. 

Freshman Thomas Sowoolu was the third and final Eagle to reach double figures with 15 points. 

William Penn outrebounded CMU 45-31 on the night. 

Central will now wait to see if it has earned an at-large bid into the national tournament, which will be released Thursday on the PlayNAIA Facebook Page.