Statesmen Again Surpass Century Mark
William Penn University Athletics
Des Moines–The high-tempo William Penn men’s basketball team poured it on all night long in a 106-73 win over AIB in Midwest Collegiate Conference play Wednesday.
The Statesmen (10-10, 5-3 MCC) trailed twice early and went scoreless for over three minutes near halftime, but still managed to get over 100 points for the fifth time this year.
The visitors led 52-37 at intermission and never allowed the margin to become less than 11 in the second stanza.
Despite barely outshooting the Eagles (2-18, 1-7 MCC) by just 0.4% (47.3%-46.9%), William Penn returned to .500 for the first time since early December.
The difference was due to a huge differential on the boards (season-high 59 rebounds to 32 for AIB) and an opportunistic defense that turned 19 turnovers into 23 points (16 WPU turnovers only resulted in six AIB points).
The navy and gold were also exemplary from behind the arc, connecting on a season-high 15 three-pointers.
Taylor Stoutner (Jr., Keota, Keota HS) paced all scorers with 23 points, including matching a career high with seven trifectas.
Keith Steffeck (Jr., Marion, Marion HS) was next with 17 points, while Alan Douglas (Sr., Champaign, Ill., Lakeland CC) returned to some semblance of his top-scorer self with 16 points.
Arman Rasul (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Illinois-Chicago), with 12 points, and Davis Spielbauer (Jr., Wapello, Wapello HS), with ten points, were also in double figures, as was Blake Walker (So., Rose Garden, Ga., Campbell HS). Walker’s performance did not end in the scoring column however.
After coming close on several occasions, Walker finally picked up his first career triple-double with ten points, 12 rebounds, and ten assists. It is the program’s first triple-double since November 18, 2009 when Kris Miller accomplished the feat with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists against Grinnell.
Walker also tied Rasul and Steffeck with two steals each.
Ross Howe (So., State Center, West Marshall HS) finished the contest with nine points, while Erik McGee (Fr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) produced seven points. Howe also gathered ten rebounds.
Next: The Statesmen host Ashford Saturday in MCC play at 3 p.m.
