Statesmen Collect 87-74 Win Over AIB
Jamere Murphy has come out of nowhere the last two contests. After recording six points in 25 minutes in his first six games (first game of the year was on January 7), he has since scored 18 points in 24 minutes in the team’s previous two matchups.
Oskaloosa–Shane Bosek (Jr., Lowry, Minn., Physical Education) scored a game-high 31 points and Jamere Murphy (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Physical Education) again came up big off the bench to pace the William Penn men’s basketball squad to an 87-74 Midwest Collegiate Conference win over AIB Wednesday.
With the victory, the Statesmen (17-11, 6-5 MCC) moved into a three-way tie for third place with St. Ambrose and Grand View entering the final game of the year. A win over Clarke on Saturday (3 p.m. start in Dubuque), coupled with a win by #13 Mount Mercy over Grand View in Cedar Rapids, would make WPU the improbable #3 seed for next week’s MCC Tournament.
Just over three weeks ago, the navy and gold were struggling at 1-4 in the MCC, but five wins in their last six league games have put them in position to host a quarterfinal contest next Wednesday.
The hosts scored the first four points, but then permitted the Eagles (18-9, 8-4 MCC), unofficially #30 in NAIA Division II, to respond with 14 of the next 16 points to trail 14-6 just 4:18 into the evening.
William Penn slowly chipped away and then went on a 15-2 run for a 31-22 advantage. Paced by 13 first-half points from Alec Schwab (Sr., Peru, Ill., Business Management), the Statesmen would eventually lead 35-30 at halftime.
The visitors owned the first streak of the second stanza, however, to regain the edge at 47-43, but WPU answered right back with seven straight and never trailed again.
Despite pulling ahead by a dozen at 69-57, the game was still in question with 6:17 to go as AIB narrowed the margin to five with a 7-0 run of its own.
The Shane Bosek Show accounted for 23 points in the first part of the second period to keep the Eagles at bay, but it was his teammates who stepped up down the stretch to ice the win. After AIB’s seven unanswered, the hosts had their own 8-0 stretch as the Statesmen avenged their 95-79 loss in Des Moines from last month.
Both sides heated up in the latter period with William Penn’s 63.0% helping it to a 50.0%-48.3% advantage from the field.
Bosek, who was 11-for-20 from the field, had 27 second-half points and also pulled down nine rebounds.
With Bosek blowing up the scoreboard, Schwab’s offense was not necessary after intermission as he added just two points for a final tally of 15. Murphy is beginning to look like the missing piece of WPU’s puzzle as he produced another huge effort off the bench. The senior finished with a career-high 12 points and five steals in just 15 minutes of floor time.
Murphy has come out of nowhere the last two contests. After recording six points in 25 minutes in his first six games (first game of the year was on January 7), he has since scored 18 points in 24 minutes in the team’s previous two matchups.
Oliver Wells (Sr., Cedar Hill, Texas, Business Management) tallied eight points with four assists, while Sam Sykes (Jr., Houston, Texas, Business Management) contributed six points and blocked two shots. Erik McGee (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Elementary Education) corralled 10 of his team’s 39 rebounds (AIB had 31 caroms) and also matched Sykes with two blocks. Fifteen of William Penn’s rebounds were on the offensive end, leading to 16 second-chance points.
Highlighted by Murphy’s thefts, the Statesmen converted AIB’s 17 turnovers into 16 points.
“I really liked our defensive intensity and offensive rebounding tonight,” Head Coach John Henry said. “You will win a lot of games, no matter how you shoot, by doing those two things. Our bench was also fantastic and how about the Jamere Murphy Story?!?!”
