Double-OT Thriller Gives Statesmen Second Seed for Tourney

William Penn's Keith Steffeck goes up for a massive dunk earlier in the season

Clinton–The William Penn men’s basketball team escaped with another incredible victory over Ashford Saturday, winning 93-90 in double overtime, but leaving fans to wonder, if the teams met in the postseason, what might a third act bring.

With the #2 seed for the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament on the line, most figured Saturday’s William Penn-Ashford men’s basketball game would be great, but few could have predicted a game equally as memorable as their triple-OT instant classic just a few weeks ago.

Yet, that is exactly the performance that was delivered and now the Statesmen (17-13, 12-6 MCC) have two possible ways to earn a berth to nationals–win the MCC Tournament or have rival St. Ambrose finish off the season sweep with the crown. Since the ten-team league gets two automatic bids to the dance, a Fighting Bee tourney title would give the #2-seeded navy and gold squad an at-large berth as well.

William Penn will host #7 seed Grand View in first-round play Wednesday at 7 p.m. The teams split the regular season series with the Vikings winning in Oskaloosa 73-67 on January 11, while the Statesmen were victorious 82-66 in Des Moines on February 8.

Wednesday’s other first-round matchups include #1 St. Ambrose hosting #8 Iowa Wesleyan in Davenport, #4 Clarke hosting #5 Waldorf in Dubuque, and #3 Ashford hosting #6 Mount Mercy in Clinton.

Saturday’s hotly-contested meeting was close from tip to final buzzer as the largest lead was only seven points.

The Saints (20-10, 12-6 MCC) led 38-35 at halftime and continued to hold an advantage for a good chunk of the second stanza. The visitors battled back to lead by three with 1:27 left, but Ashford answered with five points in a row to force William Penn into its first round of heroics.

Blake Walker (So., Rose Garden, Ga., Campbell HS) scored two of his 16 points on a jumper with eight seconds left. Javier Valdez failed to win the game in regulation as time expired and the fourth extra period of the season ensued between the programs.

Contrary to the first two halves, the Statesmen led for the entire first overtime (up by as much as four twice) before DeAndre Lowery Jr. tied the game at 85 on a bucket with 38 ticks left.

Both teams missed shots in the final seconds to force the second and final five-minute session.

This time around, the Saints struck first, but tie #15 and lead change #16 were still to come.

Alan Douglas (Sr., Champaign, Ill., Lakeland CC) gave William Penn its final lead on a three-point play with 1:15 remaining. Douglas shared top-scoring honors with Arman Rasul (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Illinois-Chicago) at 20 points. It must be noted that the senior missed practice Friday due to illness and was playing with flu-like symptoms.

Jason Landry cut the margin to one, but a Walker jumper with six seconds on the clock was the final made field goal of the day. Jonathan Wyatt misfired to wrap up the insane regular season series.

“Our fans were awesome for us today,” Head Coach John Henry said. “I truly hope we can get that same support throughout the tournament. It really lifted us.”

The stat sheet showed what everyone already knew–the teams were remarkably evenly-matched.

The Statesmen won the shooting battle, 46.2%- 44.7% and committed just seven turnovers to ten for the Saints. The rebounding edge went to Ashford 43-39. Rasul tied for the game high with 13 boards to post his fifth double-double of the campaign.

Both teams were also solid at the line (WPU was 13-of-16, AU was 15-of-19).

Davis Spielbauer (Jr., Wapello, Wapello HS) was impressive on the offensive end with 17 points (four three-pointers), while fellow sharpshooter Taylor Stoutner (Jr., Keota, Keota HS) hit double figures as well with 11 points (three three-pointers). Keith Steffeck (Jr., Marion, Marion HS) added six points.

Walker nearly produced another triple-double with nine rebounds and eight assists. Rasul blocked three shots.