Statesmen Halt Losing Streak with 78-69 Win Over Viterbo
William Penn's Keith Steffeck goes up for a massive dunk versus Viterbo Wednesday night
Oskaloosa–Alan Douglas (Sr., Champaign, Ill., Lakeland CC) had another jaw-dropping game and fortunately this time it was enough to lift the William Penn men’s basketball team to victory as the squad defeated Viterbo 78-69 in Midwest Collegiate Conference action Wednesday.
The win ends a four-game losing streak for the navy and gold (7-9, 2-2 MCC) and puts the program back in the league hunt. St. Ambrose leads the MCC at 4-0, while Iowa Wesleyan and Ashford are at 3-1. Mount Mercy and Grand View are tied with the Statesmen at 2-2.
The senior nearly notched yet another double-double by posting team highs with 32 points and nine rebounds. He was 12-of-19 from the field (1-1 3PT) and 7-of-9 at the line. Douglas has posted 29 points or more in four consecutive matchups, averaging 31.5 points in that stretch.
The home team was an offensive dynamo early, scoring 21 of the game’s first 27 points. Unfortunately, William Penn cooled off considerably (34.9% for the half), but still led 36-26 at the break.
Both teams found their stroke post-intermission and a battle ensued. Once trailing by 15 points, the V-Hawks (6-10, 1-3 MCC) rallied to within three at 54-51 with 8:44 still remaining.
The Statesmen persevered, though, going on a 9-2 run and were never threatened again.
William Penn was actually outshot 41.3%-41.1%, but utilized 19 offensive rebounds (44-43 edge on the boards) for 26 points. A total of 21 points also came via 18 Viterbo turnovers (just 13 for WPU).
Neither squad had much luck behind the arc with William Penn going 5-of-26 and Viterbo making only one of its 13 attempts. Taylor Stoutner (Jr., Keota, Keota HS) was the biggest victim of the cold perimeter shooting as he finished 2-of-14 (3-of-16 total) for eight points.
Keith Steffeck (Jr., Marion, Marion HS) took on a big role in the second period, claiming 12 points and nine rebounds, while Blake Walker (So., Rose Garden, Ga., Campbell HS) and Arman Rasul (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Illinois-Chicago) each added nine points. Rasul and Steffeck had backboard-shaking dunks in the final minute of the contest to energize a smaller than usual crowd (students return from holiday break this weekend).
Walker managed four assists and Rasul picked up three steals.
“Alan Douglas has been a monster this past month,” Head Coach John Henry said. “He has done everything we could have asked of him and more. We now need some other players to step up with him and we could be really dangerous.”
“Adding Keith Steffeck and Walter Herron (Sr., Houston, Texas, Westfield HS) has been big for our program as well,” Henry added. “Keith gives us great length inside and Walter is a workhorse. They allow us to do a lot of different things with our lineup that we otherwise could not do.”
Next: The Statesmen travel to Mount Pleasant Saturday to face Iowa Wesleyan in MCC action at 3 p.m.
