Buzzer-Beater Keeps Statesmen Perfect
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Marshall, Mo.–Marlon Alcindor (Sr., Queens, N.Y.) will enjoy his turkey and sides with an extremely grateful heart as he capped off a seven-day stretch for the ages with a game-winning, buzzer-beating bucket in a 98-96 victory over Missouri Valley in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Tuesday.
The reigning Heart Player of the Week who broke the school record for three-pointers just three days ago gave quite the encore performance, splashing home a jumper to win on a night when #2 WPU (7-0, 3-0 Heart) walked away victorious despite committing 24 turnovers and having two players foul out. The officials made their presence felt all night, whistling the navy and gold for 30 total infractions (three technical) and the Vikings (3-3, 1-2 Heart) for an additional 24 (one technical).
The visitors led 96-91 inside of a minute to go, but allowed a pair of free throws to make it 96-93. They then gave the ball back on a turnover and MVC made them pay with a long ball from Gabe Mackenzie. The Viking had knocked down just six trifectas entering the contest, but was 5-for-8 from deep on the night, including four in the second stanza.
With the game suddenly tied and only six ticks remaining, Q Cager (Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky.), coming out of a timeout, rushed down the court and fired up an attempt. It was blocked out of bounds, but fortunately there was still 1.0 seconds left on the clock. WPU called a timeout, and then another, and eventually one more before Darius Wheeler (Sr., Jonesboro, Ga., Sports Administration) finally found an open Alcindor who got the shot off with several tenths still remaining.
Alcindor scored 29 and 36 last week, but his 21 points, highlighted by his last two Tuesday night, will be remembered the most in Statesmen basketball lore. The senior, who was just 5-for-11 from the field (2-for-6 3-PT), actually did most of his damage at the charity stripe with a 9-for-10 effort.
The intense matchup featured 11 ties and 15 lead changes; WPU held the largest lead at 10 midway through the opening half. Missouri Valley enjoyed a last-second shot of its own with a trifecta in the waning seconds of the period for a 50-48 halftime edge.
William Penn pulled out to an eight-point advantage on two occasions after intermission, including at 81-73. Down 90-83, the hosts battled back with eight unanswered to claim their last lead with three minutes to go. Cager, who guided the bench with 12 points and four steals, then put in a pair of buckets, and Omar Sherman (Sr., Duncanville, Texas) tallied the last of his game-high 26 points, before MVC made its final push.
Sherman fought through foul trouble all night, collecting three by halftime and getting his fourth with over eight minutes left. The senior was limited to just two points in the final 12 minutes of the game.
WPU outshot MVC 57.4%-40.8%, but permitted 12 three-pointers; the team was only 3-for-12 from behind the arc itself. Both sides were strong at the line with the Statesmen finishing 25-for-33 and the Vikings going 22-for-29.
Missouri Valley made up for its lackluster shooting by out-tallying William Penn 26-11 in second-chance points (41-38 in rebounds overall; 19-9 offensive) and 28-20 in points off turnovers.
Shamar Bailey-DeCoteau (Jr., Toronto, Ontario) posted a double-double with 12 points and a contest-high 11 rebounds, while Abrian Edwards (Austin, Texas) just fell shy with nine points and nine assists. Wheeler added six points as well.
“Missouri Valley is a really good team; this is a great win!” Head Coach John Henry said. “We overcame a lot of adversity for this one. We all kind of knew that if Marlon could get a shot off, that it was probably going in.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Friday to open up the Wendy’s Classic, hosting Wright State Lake in non-conference action at 7 p.m.
