Statesmen Dodge Upset, Advance to MCC Semifinals

Shane Bosek (shown dunking) had 21 points in only 27 minutes Wednesday

Shane Bosek (shown dunking) had 21 points in only 27 minutes Wednesday

Oskaloosa–It is safe to say the William Penn men’s basketball program feels pretty confident playing in the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament, moving on with a 90-80 quarterfinal win over #6 seed Viterbo Wednesday.

With the victory, the third-seeded Statesmen (19-11) move onto Friday’s semifinals where they will face #2 seed AIB in Des Moines at 7 p.m. The home teams held serve during the regular season with AIB winning 95-79 in the state’s capitol on January 21, while the navy and gold were victorious 87-74 in Oskaloosa last Wednesday.

Dating back to the 2013 postseason, WPU has won six straight MCC Tournament games.

The regular season matchups between William Penn and Viterbo were tight (71-64 and 74-66), so it was little surprise that Wednesday’s battle was not settled until the final minutes. In a game that featured five ties and eight lead changes, the V-Hawks (12-17) made their first three shots and two free throws to lead 11-6 early. WPU answered back with 11 straight to lead 17-11, but gave the advantage back a few more times before half.

Fortunately, the hosts finished on a 14-6 run to lead 41-35 at intermission. Shane Bosek (Jr., Lowry, Minn., Physical Education) paced the squad with 12 points at that juncture, while Alec Schwab (Sr., Peru, Ill., Business Management) was slowed in the first stanza for the second-consecutive matchup.

Just like last Saturday, though, Schwab was huge after halftime. Behind 6-for-10 shooting (five three-pointers), the senior scored 20 second-half points for a team-best tally of 23.

With their scoring leader firing on all cylinders, the Statesmen extended their margin to 12 points at 57-45 with 13:50 to go. Unfortunately, Viterbo was far from waving the white flag on its season as 16 of the next 18 points gave the visitors a 61-59 edge with 9:29 left.

William Penn, which is now 7-2 in its last nine games, had the final run though with six straight and never trailed again to reach its third-straight semifinal. VU narrowed its deficit to three twice more, but a 9-2 streak put the game out of reach.

Both sides shot exactly 48.4% from the field, while the difference came two-fold: free throws and turnovers. Many of WPU’s free points came late (16 of 19 made shots were in the second half), outscoring V-Hawks 19-7 at the stripe. The visitors only committed 13 turnovers (just seven for WPU), but the victors were extremely advantageous with 23 points off of mistakes. The Statesmen also owned a 35-34 edge in rebounds.

Bosek was next on William Penn’s scoring list with 21 points (9-for-16 FG), while Oliver Wells (Sr., Cedar Hill, Texas, Business Management) narrowly missed a triple-double. Instead he settled for his eighth double-double of the year, managing 19 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds.

Jake Guenther (Jr., Altoona, Iowa, Secondary Education) hit a trio of first-half trifectas for his nine points, while Sam Sykes (Jr., Houston, Texas, Business Management) and Jamere Murphy (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Physical Education) both posted seven points.

Logan Alexander (Sr., Eddyville, Iowa, Physical Education) was also a nice spark prior to the break with four first-half points.

Schwab stole three passes as well in the quarterfinal meeting.

“I am so happy for this group of guys; they stuck together and believed in each other,” Head Coach John Henry said. “Now here we are with 19 wins and advancement in the tourney. This group really is a team.”

Posted by on Feb 26 2015. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Comments are closed

         

Search Archive

Search by Date
Search by Category
Search with Google
Log in | Copyright by Oskaloosa News