WPU Heading to Kansas for Opening Round, Will Face Winner of MACU/Holy Cross

NAIA Regular and Tournament Champions William Penn Men’s Basketball Team.

Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s basketball team will begin its road to a national title by traveling to the Jayhawk State as it earned a berth to the Park City Bracket B as part of the 2020-2021 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Opening Round, presented by Ballogy.

WPU (24-1) is the #1 seed in the three-team bracket in Park, City, Kan. The Statesmen will begin by earning a bye in the event held at Hartman Arena.

The Statesmen will finally play on Saturday, March 13 at 11 a.m. against the winner of #2 seed Mid-America Christian (Okla.) and #3 seed Holy Cross (Ind.). No matter the outcome of Friday’s matchup, Saturday’s bout will be William Penn’s first-ever meeting against either program in men’s basketball.

Mid-America Christian, an at-large bid out of the Sooner Athletic Conference, is 11-4. Holy Cross, which earned its berth as the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season runner-up, is 13-6.

The Opening Round bracket is one of 16 pods throughout the country. The winners of each bracket advance to the final site in Kansas City, Mo. from March 18-23. The overall tournament field was reduced from 64 originally to 48 due to factors associated with the COVID-19.

Live stats can be found at http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Tournament/TournamentPage.aspx?association=10&sg=MBB&tour=3387, while live video can be found at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/kcac/

Ticket information will become available Friday.

William Penn

John Henry, in his 20th season (447-210 record entering nationals), is leading the Statesmen to their sixth-straight NAIA Nationals appearance, their ninth trip in the last 10 years, and their 11th trip in his tenure (15-9 all-time).

William Penn is led by first-team all-Heart of America Athletic Conference performers Kevion Blaylock (Sr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) and Karmari Newman (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication); five others also earned all-Heart recognition. Blaylock, the Heart Player of the Year, is averaging 17.1 points and 9.8 rebounds, while Newman is averaging 15.7 points with 70 three-pointers.

WPU is outscoring opponents 101.2-76.9 and outrebounding them 50.9-33.6. William Penn is also better from the field with a 51.7%-39.1% edge and from the free-throw line (69.3%-65.7%).

The squad leads the NAIA in several categories, including scoring, rebounds, defensive rebounds (36.0), assists (20.4), and rebounding margin (+17.3).

WPU enters nationals on a 13-game winning streak.

Mid-America Christian

Josh Gamblin, in his sixth season (128-57 record entering nationals), will be taking the Evangels to nationals for the third-consecutive year. The program is 8-2 all-time at nationals, including winning the title in 2016.

MACU, which was 5-2 in SAC play, has won four of its last five games. Terrance Jones, a first-team all-conference pick, is averaging 17.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Tony Dorsey (11.8 points) and Jasiah Lewis (9.7 points) were honorable mentions.

Mid-America Christian has outscored its foes 80.1-71.3 and outrebounded them 40.4-38.1. The Evangels are also better from the field (43.3%-38.3%), three-point area (34.9%-31.4%), and free-throw line (71.3%-66.7%).

MACU ranks fifth nationally in defensive field-goal percentage.

Holy Cross

Mike McBride, in his eighth season (131 wins), will be taking the Saints to nationals for the second-consecutive year (two trips all-time). The program won its only previous nationals game last year, right before the NAIA Division II Tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19.

HCC, which was 8-3 in CCAC play, has won two of its last three games. Jordan Gaines, a first-team all-conference pick, is averaging 13.4 points along with 62 assists. Storm Cook (17.4 points) was a second-team honoree.

Holy Cross has outscored its foes 75.6-71.2, but is being outrebounded 31.9-31.0. The Saints are better from the field (48.0%-47.2%), three-point area (41.4%-37.2%), and free-throw line (74.5%-70.0%).

HCC ranks third nationally in three-point percentage.

All other information on the NAIA National Championship can be found at https://www.naia.org/sports/mbkb/index