Statesmen Beat Pesky Crusaders for Big Jump in Standings
William Penn University Athletics
Dubuque–Role players were instrumental before the break and then the team’s offensive leader found his groove as the William Penn men’s basketball team closed out the regular season with a 76-72 win over Clarke in Midwest Collegiate Conference play Saturday.
The win allowed the Statesmen (18-11, 7-5 MCC) to snag the third seed for next week’s MCC Tournament. WPU will host #6 seed Viterbo (12-16, 3-9 MCC) in the quarterfinals next Wednesday in Oskaloosa at 7 p.m. Wednesday’s victory over AIB helped the navy and gold claim the tiebreaker over St. Ambrose.
William Penn swept the V-Hawks in the regular season, winning 71-64 in Oskaloosa on January 10 and 74-66 in La Crosse, Wis. on January 31.
Despite being outshot 42.2%-42.0%, the Statesmen did just enough Saturday to keep Clarke (6-22, 0-12 MCC) winless in conference action.
WPU led 6-3 in the opening minutes, but CU responded well and eventually led by as much as seven at 22-15 midway through the first half. Still down four, the visitors closed out the period with a 6-1 run to lead 29-28 and never trailed again. The lead was obtained without much help from leading scorer Alec Schwab (Sr., Peru, Ill., Business Management) (zero points, 0-for-7 shooting) or Oliver Wells (Sr., Cedar Hill, Texas, Business Management) (played only six minutes, foul trouble).
Fortunately, Sam Sykes (Jr., Houston, Texas, Business Management) was solid with ten points, while Nick Jeffries (Fr., Altoona, Iowa, Exercise Science) contributed eight big points off the bench.
Schwab entered Saturday averaging 22.0 points per contest, so there was little chance he would remain scoreless and the senior made sure of that right out of the locker room. He opened the second half with three consecutive three-pointers en route to WPU’s first 11 points (13 of its first 15). Behind Schwab, the Statesmen pulled out to a 10-point margin only 6:42 after intermission.
The Crusaders tried to ruin the celebration for their foes with seven unanswered, but William Penn came right back with an 8-0 run of its own. The lead stayed above six points until the final 1:50 of the clock. CU gave the home crowd something to cheer about late with seven straight, but a layup by Schwab and two free throws by Wells iced the victory. After starting 1-4 in the MCC, the Statesmen finished the league slate 6-1 to grab a home game for next Wednesday.
Schwab hit eight of his 14 second-period attempts (four three-pointers) for a game-best 24 points. Wells was one of four other Statesmen who also eclipsed double digits, pouring in 13 points.
Jeffries was about as close to perfect as one could be, going 5-for-6 (2-for-2 3-PT) for 12 points in addition to one assist and two blocks. Sykes and Jamere Murphy (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Physical Education), who was 4-for-4 from the floor, also hit the mark with 10 points apiece. Sykes had two steals as well.
Shane Bosek (Jr., Lowry, Minn., Physical Education) had a tough day shooting (2-for-9 for four points), but found other ways to contribute with three assists, and Erik McGee (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Elementary Education) hauled in nine rebounds to pace all participants.
WPU only committed eight turnovers and converted 10 Clarke errors into 13 points. Both sides tallied 40 rebounds, but the Statesmen had to overcome permitting 14 second-chance points by the Crusaders.
“Nick and Jamere were incredible off the bench and kept us in the game until Alec got going,” Head Coach John Henry said. “This was a great team win and I am really proud of our guys for finding yet another way to win.”
