William Penn Avenges Loss with Edge at Line and Behind Arc
William Penn University Athletics
Des Moines–The Statesmen cagers made up for one of their toughest setbacks of the year by crushing Grand View 82-66 in Midwest Collegiate Conference play Wednesday.
William Penn (15-12, 10-5 MCC), who avenged a 73-67 loss in last month’s annual ‘TP’ game, continues to be tied with Ashford for second place in the MCC.
With a win over Clarke Saturday, the Statesmen can guarantee themselves a home game in the MCC Tournament’s first round. The Statesmen and Crusaders square off at 3 p.m. in Dubuque.
The Vikings (12-11, 6-9 MCC) claimed a pair of leads in the early minutes, but the night was ultimately owned by the navy and gold.
Leading 38-27 at intermission, the advantage expanded to as much as 20 with just over seven left to go.
One would not come to this conclusion by looking at most of the box score. The teams were identical from the field (27-of-66 for 40.9%), committed 14 turnovers apiece, and finished 39-38 on the glass in favor of the Statesmen.
A closer look revealed exactly how the visitors claimed such a lopsided victory. William Penn easily topped Grand View from three-point land (13-of-29 for WPU, 4-of-16 for GVU) and was nearly as successful at the free-throw line (15-of-21 for WPU, 8-of-12 for GVU). The nine extra trifectas and the seven addition charity-stripers were the eventual difference.
Oh, and so was a huge 26-point showing by Taylor Stoutner (Jr., Keota, Keota HS). The junior rebounded from a tough outing last Saturday (3-of-11 3-PT) to finish 8-of-16 from downtown (2-of-2 FT).
Alan Douglas (Sr., Champaign, Ill., Lakeland CC), with 14 points, and Keith Steffeck (Jr., Marion, Marion HS), with 11 points, also hit the double-digit plateau.
Arman Rasul (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Illinois-Chicago) managed nine points, Austin Emerson (Jr., Des Moines, Southwestern CC) came up with eight points, and six points were produced by both Ross Howe (So., State Center, West Marshall HS) and Blake Walker (So., Rose Garden, Ga., Campbell HS).
Scoring was not Walker’s greatest contribution, however, as he guided the Statesmen with a double-double of ten rebounds and ten assists.
William Penn tied a season low by committing only 11 fouls.
