Crushing Blow, Saints Stun Statesmen
Coach John Henry (front) hugs Senior Eddie Daley after the loss to Carroll on Friday night.
Kansas City, Mo. –The dream was ended for William Penn men’s basketball on Friday night in the round of 16 in the NAIA National Tournament. While the Statesmen led early, the Fighting Saints of Carroll forced their will on the contest and limited the potent William Penn attack. Falling 85-62, the team will bow out of the big dance and end with an overall record of 25-2.
With 90-plus of Statesmen Nation in attendance at the Municipal Auditorium, William Penn once more faced a first-time foe in Carroll. The Saints had defeated Texas Wesleyan before upsetting the Firestorm of Arizona Christian to reach Kansas City. The buildup was all about the slow attack and stout defense of the Saints against one of the best and fastest offensive teams in the NAIA in WPU, who were also no slouches in the backcourt.
With the stage set, WPU got the tip and Kevion Blaylock (Sr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) let fly on a three after a quick screen, but could not hit it. Eddie Daley (Sr., DeWitt, Mich., Business Management) got the offensive rebound and failed to tip it home, but helped forward the second rebound to Q Cager (Sr., Hopkinsville, Ky., Wellness & Recreation), who put the first bucket of the night in.
Both teams the let nerves and the arena environment get to them, as neither side put in any shots for almost three minutes. Carroll tied the game at 2-2 with 17:04 to go but another great drive from Cager kept the navy and gold ahead. Ahmad Pender (Sr., Chicago, Ill, Wellness & Recreation) then helped to create a steal and, after getting fouled, made one of the free throws to put the Statesmen up 5-2.
Tied at 5-5 a few minutes later, Chanze Cruesoe (So., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) tipped-toed his way to the rim and scored on a lovely reverse layup to put the team ahead 7-5. Coming off the bench, Brandon Faison (Sr., Charlotte, N.C., Sports Management) knocked down a jumper from the blocks to increase the edge to 9-5.
The deep shot then came alive for the Statesmen, with Josh Watkins (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Sports Management) going three-for-three and Ty Majlik-Autry (Jr., St. Petersburg, Fla.) knocking one down as well. Even though the Saints found some points over that span, William Penn looked strong, going up 21-15 at the midway point of the half.
The navy and gold then got stuck on 21 points, as Carroll found a groove to ckise within two. Some foul trouble then hit Cager and Nathan Gehring (Sr., Waukee, Iowa), furthering the concern. But Majilik-Autry hit his second field goal of the game to keep the Saints at bay, as the Statesmen kept a 25-21 lead.
However, the rest of the half was commandeered by Carroll, as the Saints ended the half on a 19-5 run, taking a 40-30 lead into halftime.
William Penn ended the first half shooting 12-33 (36.4%) from the floor and each team came away with seven offensive rebounds and 14 defensive ones. The team had no luck from the rim, as a lot of shots in the paint early in the contest would not take a friendly bounce. Individually, Watkins led the team with nine points and Daley had five rebounds to pace the lineup.
Looking for some momentum out of the break, the team dug deep and found some, with Pender making a nice drive to get the second half scoring started. Watkins then buried another three as the fans of the navy and gold got to their feet, but the Saints answered with a three of their own to keep the lead at eight, 35-43. Blaylock found his first score of the game soon after to make it a six-point game, but Carroll once more stayed cool under pressure, running the lead back to 11. Over the next seven minutes, they rolled away to an 18-point advantage at 55-37.
Majilik-Autry then scored to start what would be the final push from the Statesmen. After Gehring made a couple free throws, Blaylock and Cruesoe each put down layups to make it a 12-point game. Another jumper from Faison made it a 10-point contest and it seemed like the comeback expected by the faithful would come to fruition.
However, Carroll had thrived on defense for most of the year, holding opponents to 65 points-a-game over their campaign. They responded by locking down their defensive end, running a lot of shot clock down in the attacking end, and hitting good shots. Ahead 56-46 with 8:23 to go, Carroll then ramped it up to an 18-point lead four minutes later. A corner three almost seemed to be the dagger even with four minutes and change to go, and the heads on the Statesmen bench began to hang.
Blaylock and Majilik-Autry made a couple more shots but nothing that could erase the gap, as William Penn were taken down by a 15-seed a day after the #1 overall team in Indiana Wesleyan were upset themselves by the #16 seed. Taking the loss 85-62 at the final horn, the players worked through their emotions with the coaches on the bench, as the senior-laden team ends the season in heartbreak despite a Heart of America Athletic Conference double title and a 25-2 record.
“We didn’t play well tonight,” said Head Coach John Henry. “For whatever reason, we just weren’t very good. Carroll was great and they deserve to advance. It’s a humbling ending to an awesome season. Man, what a great two-year ride! We wish tonight wouldn’t have happened, but eventually, we will reflect on how much we accomplished and how much fun we had.”
It remains to be seen which seniors will take advantage of the COVID-19 exception and return for one more run. Barring any of them returning, this game would mark the end of the careers of; Blaylock, Pender, Watkins, Gehring, Cager, Daley, Faison, Karmari Newman (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communication), Derrick Holman (Sr., Napeville, Ill.), and Quinshaun Freeman (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Software Engineering).
