Statesmen Dominate ‘T.P.’ Game
William Penn University Athletics
Oskaloosa–Home court advantage was just that this year in the William Penn-Grand View men’s basketball series as the Statesmen pounded its Midwest Collegiate Conference rival 90-68 Wednesday.
Just shy of one month ago, William Penn (15-9, 4-4 MCC) was handled its league opener in Des Moines, but Wednesday the host Statesmen got their vengeance on the most popular night of the year. Behind a 47.2%-36.1% shooting edge, the navy and gold did the entire night what it could not do at all on the road in January–lead.
The Charmin (or possibly some lesser quality brands) was launched into the air (some talented fans got it caught in the rafters) just 41 seconds into action as Shane Bosek (Jr., Lowry, Minn., Physical Education) finished off a perfect alley-oop pass from Oliver Wells (Sr., Cedar Hill, Texas, Business Management).
It seemed like a rout was forthcoming as WPU darted out to a 17-3 lead over Grand View (10-11, 3-5 MCC), but as happens so often in rivalry contests, the foe made it all too interesting.
William Penn extended the margin to as much as 17 three times in the first half (final time at 37-20) before the Vikings roared back with 12 unanswered. The home squad, playing in front of its most raucous crowd of the year, finished off the period with five straight to lead 42-32 at intermission.
With momentum teetering entering the break, WPU wasted little time to shut the door on GVU. The team opened with an 8-4 mini run and never allowed the Vikings to get back within single digits again.
The navy and gold did get outscored 21-12 at the charity stripe, but recovered with 16 points on ten Grand View turnovers. They also controlled the glass at 48-36 (12-10 in second-chance points) and made seven more three-pointers (10-3).
Bosek and Alec Schwab (Sr., Peru, Ill., Business Management) each recorded double-doubles with Schwab recording 31 points and ten rebounds. Bosek had a 19-point, 11-rebound evening, while Erik McGee (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Elementary Education) guided all participants with 12 rebounds. McGee, who is fighting a stomach bug, also blocked two shots and stole two passes.
Wells almost made it a trio of double-doublers, scoring 22 points with nine assists.
Sam Sykes (Jr., Houston, Texas, Business Management) provided a second punch from the post with six points in only seven minutes on the court. Jake Guenther (Jr., Altoona, Iowa, Secondary Education) matched that point tally.
After losing three straight, the Statesmen have now reeled off three in a row and are just two games from second place AIB and one game from St. Ambrose in the MCC standings. Both AIB and SAU still have to enter Penn Gymnasium this month.
“The atmosphere in the gym was awesome tonight,” Head Coach John Henry said. “We showed some William Penn toughness as a team. Erik and Sam played our center spot really well.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Cedar Rapids Saturday to face #11 Mount Mercy in MCC play at 3 p.m.
