Christian Soderholm

For 38 minutes, the Central Methodist men’s basketball team matched No. 3 William Penn shot for shot. In the final two minutes, all five Eagle attempts came up empty as the Statesmen scored seven straight and escaped with an 81-75 win on Wednesday.

“Pretty amazing that you can get a team with a record like we have against the third-ranked team in country, and we could have won,” coach Jeff Sherman said.

“But we’re not a team with our record.”

James Byrd and Isaiah Burton were in the starting lineup for the first time since November 5. The pair was suspended for the fall semester and did not participate in practices or team activities until earning their way back onto the roster just before the new year.

Byrd, Burton, and Christian Soderholm each hit 3-pointers as the Eagles jumped out to a 19-4 lead five minutes into the game.

Two nights earlier, William Penn started its game with a 33-11 run against Peru State.

“We sent a message that you’re not going to come in here (and do that),” Sherman said about the quick start.

The Eagles held William Penn well below its average of 105 points per game. The Statesmen’s first-half total of 34 points and game total of 81 were each a season-low.

Soderholm was 4-5 from the 3-point line in the first half, scoring 14 points as CMU took a 37-34 lead into the break. He finished 11-15 from the floor with a career-high 28 points.

In the second half, neither team led by more than four points until there were 14 seconds remaining. The field goal and 3-point totals for the two teams were nearly identical in the second half, but William Penn had a 16-6 advantage in free-throw attempts.

“We tried taking it to them,” Sherman said.

“I think we tried too hard that we tried to force bad shots. We tried to draw a foul because they were just swarming us. I think that they’re the best defensive team in the paint, because we were not getting easy layups. Rijnard (Hartman) didn’t get his shots to fall. He was getting good shots, but they weren’t falling.”

Hartman finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Burton had 10 points and Byrd finished with nine. Josh Robison had nine points and seven assists.

William Penn got 30 points from its bench on Wednesday, while the Eagle reserves were 3-13 for nine points.

“We’re still trying to figure things out, but the group we have is pretty damn good,” Sherman said.

“This is probably the wrong team to play and expect that you’re going to be good all the way throughout the game.”

The Eagles are 5-12 after the loss, but 2-2 in the new year.

“Now I think we’re really starting to gel, just like we said we would,” Sherman said.

“We won’t have a phenomenal record, but we can still be that team that finishes and makes things happen at the end. It’s hard because you’ve got to get everybody meshing, but we’re getting close to that.”

CMU 76, Baker 70

On Saturday, the CMU bounced back with a 76-70 win at Baker. Central Methodist led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but trailed by one point with 2:45 left.

James Byrd made a 3-pointer to put CMU back on top before Kyle McDermed, Josh Robinson and Christian Soderholm each made two free throws, sealing the six-point win.

The Eagles took a 29-12 lead after 12 minutes and led by double digits until a 13-1 run late in the game gave Baker its first lead.

Soderholm continued his excellent play, scoring 22 points on 7-11 shooting. He also had 10 rebounds and blocked a pair of shots in 38 minutes. Rijnard Hartman had 14 points and six blocked shots. Byrd had 14 points and four assists for the Eagles. McDermed had all 10 of Central Methodist’s bench points. The Eagles have a 5-7 record in conference play.