Walker Guts it Out in WPU Loss to Briar Cliff
William Penn Men’s Basketball Blake Walker (3) gets some air in the teams home opener.
Oskaloosa–Less than 24 hours before Saturday’s matchup against Briar Cliff, it was uncertain if Blake Walker (Sr., Rose Garden, Physical Education) would ever compete on the collegiate hardwood again. Fortunately, the senior’s injury was not as severe as first thought and he played through the pain, but his effort was not enough to lift the Statesmen men’s basketball team in a 91-88 non-conference loss.
William Penn (0-2) was outshot 47.8%-42.5%, but was hurt most at the charity stripe (15-of-25, 60.0%) and in the turnover battle (15 turnovers led to 20 BCU points). Saturday’s tight matchup featured 16 lead changes (largest lead was nine) and ten ties.
It was the Chargers (1-1) who struck first, going up by seven at 13-6. The navy and gold responded to lead by eight at 42-34, but Briar Cliff took the momentum into intermission with nine unanswered for a 43-42 advantage.
The Statesmen recaptured the edge right away in the second half and held it for most of the stanza. WPU was still up 85-84 with 3:21 left, but Briar Cliff had too much in the tank late to claim the road win. Tied at 87-87 with 3:02 left on the clock, the hosts scored just one point in their final six trips down the floor.
William Penn still had a chance to force overtime, though, but a desperation three-pointer found the rafters as time expired.
Walker, who was expected to play sparingly off the bench, was incredible with 19 point in 34 minutes of action. He also dished out a game-high seven assists.
Roberts Baltruns (So., Riga, Latvia, Business Management) matched his teammate with 19 points. Both players were perfect at the line (Walker was 5-for-5; Baltruns was 3-for-3).
Tyler Stahle (So., Bountiful, Utah, Business Management) hit four three-pointers in a non-starting role to tally 16 points. Baltruns also connected on four perimeter shots.
Kevin Fay (Sr., Hennepin, Ill., Education) joined the double-digit club with 15 points, while Kelly Madison (Jr., Des Moines, Iowa, Physical Education) added seven points Saturday.
William Penn’s 50-41 rebounding edge led to a 23-16 margin in second-chance scoring. Erik McGee (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa) topped his team with seven boards.
Next: William Penn travels to Crete, Neb. to face Doane in non-conference play at 7:30 p.m.
