Madison’s 36 Points Guides Statesmen Over Ranked Bruins
William Penn University Athletics
Oskaloosa–Kelly Madison (Jr., Des Moines, Iowa, Physical Education) sparked a huge fire that lifted #7 William Penn to a 90-88 non-conference men’s basketball win over #19 Bellevue (Neb.) Monday.
The junior poured in 36 points off the bench on 13-for-20 shooting (4-for-7 3-PT, 6-for-6 FT). He had 18 points in the first half, and after a slow second-half start, finished strong with 16 of his squad’s final 22 points. Madison added three steals as well.
“Kelly was electric tonight,” Head Coach John Henry said.
A streak-filled first half witnessed the largest leads for both sides with Bellevue (4-2) going up by nine at 26-17. The Statesmen (2-4) rallied, though, with a 29-9 run to lead by 11 points late. The hosts went into the break ahead 48-41.
The Bruins countered quickly in the second stanza to recapture the advantage at 57-56. Neither squad held an edge larger than three points until the final minute in a contest that featured ten ties and 19 lead changes.
BU tied it up for the tenth and final time at 84-84 with 39 seconds left, and then went up by one with another made free throw. Fortunately, Madison came up with a successful driving layup that netted a three-point play to give WPU an 87-85 advantage, a lead it would not relinquish again.
Kevin Fay (Sr., Hennepin, Ill., Education) then provided a much-needed defensive stop on the other end with a block and tie-up. The senior also had a nice offensive night with 14 points.
Marc Wilson (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.) was fouled on the ensuing play and made one of two free throws to extend the margin to three at 88-85. He tallied 13 points and two blocks in just 16 minutes of action as foul trouble kept him off the floor for all but three minutes in the opening stanza.
The Bruins game-tying trifecta went offline at the :07 mark. Madison was fouled and appeared to ice the game with two more charity stripe tries.
Unfortunately, BU’s Taylor Young hit a three-pointer with under one second to keep his team’s hopes alive. William Penn only strengthened its foe’s miracle-ending chances by failing to inbound the ball. With 0.7 seconds on the clock, the Bruins were able to get the ball in, but Given Kalipinde’s fadeaway jumper could only draw iron as time expired.
The navy and gold overcame being outshot 45.9%-42.9%, including 40.0%-26.7% deficit from behind the arc. Both teams were solid at the line (BU 76.9%, WPU 76.2%).
The Statesmen did much of their damage on the offensive glass and by taking advantage of mistakes. The squads tied with 41 rebounds apiece, but 18 offensive boards for William Penn led to a 19-14 edge in second-chance points. Erik McGee (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Elementary Education) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, including seven offensively. A total of 18 takeaways (11 turnovers for WPU) also helped the hosts to outscore Bellevue 23-15 in points off turnovers.
Blake Walker (Sr., Rose Garden, Physical Education) matched Wilson with 13 points and had a team-high three assists.
“We have a lot of respect for Bellevue; they are a national powerhouse,” Henry said. “Winning this game feels great!”
Next: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Tuesday to host Faith Baptist Bible in non-conference play at 7 p.m.
