William Penn Holds Off Grand View on TP Night
Shamar Bailey-DeCoteau scored 28 points Monday
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–The town of Oskaloosa experienced its second white-out in as many days Monday as the Statesmen men’s basketball team defeated rival Grand View 84-68 on TP Night.
#2 WPU (10-0, 4-0 Heart) took down the Vikings (4-3, 1-2 Heart) in Heart of America Athletic Conference action, outshooting its foe 46.0%-40.4% and outrebounding it 39-38.
With leading scorer Marlon Alcindor (Sr., Queens, N.Y.) unable to go due to injury, the Statesmen needed someone to step up and Shamar Bailey-DeCoteau (Jr., Toronto, Ontario) accepted the challenge. The junior went 9-for-15 from the field (5-for-9 3-PT) and 5-for-6 at the line en route to a season-high 28 points.
“We missed Marlon, but Shamar picked up the slack,” Head Coach John Henry said. “He really played well on both ends. I am happy for him because he is a kid I coach pretty hard. I am glad to see him have a monster game.”
Bailey-DeCoteau was at it all night, but the opening points came via a mid-range jumper from Omar Sherman (Sr., Duncanville, Texas). WPU won the opening tip and the packed house in Penn Gymnasium waited with, well…toilet paper rolls. Unfortunately, Statesmen Nation had to hang on a bit longer. The hosts came up short on their first possession, but on their second trip down the hardwood, Darius Wheeler (Sr., Jonesboro, Ga., Sports Administration) dropped the ball into Sherman into the high post and he squared up and hit the bucket, igniting a winter wonderland of bath tissue.
The floor was cleared, the technical foul shot was taken, and play resumed. The navy and gold then wasted little time to impose their will, owning a 22-10 lead at the 11:15 mark. GVU charged back to draw within four on a few occasions, but William Penn closed out the half in style on an 11-4 run to lead 48-37 at intermission.
The advantage grew to as large as 19 at 60-41 with 15:18 remaining and the Statesmen were poised to deliver the knockout punch. Unfortunately, the Vikings were not to be easy prey and tallied 15 of the next 17 points to make it a ballgame at 62-56.
With more than 10 minutes still on the clock, the Statesmen were far from out of the woods. The sides then exchanged mini runs and the margin remained just seven at 72-65 with 5:24 to go.
Things got a bit hairy–in a different way–soon thereafter. William Penn had been whistled for its second technical foul earlier in the half as part of GVU’s run, but the Vikings had the tables turned on them as they earned a ‘T’. The lead was just nine at the time, and Bailey-DeCoteau made only one of the free throws, but it marked a change in momentum. WPU eventually finished with six straight points and wrapped up the contest on a 12-3 run.
Headed by their leading scorer’s five three-pointers, the victors were 10-for-23 from the arc. They started well at the charity stripe, but slowed down to finish at 16-for-25.
Sherman notched his fourth double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The senior blocked five shots as well.
TaJuan Johnson (Jr., Chicago, Ill.), with 13 points, and Wheeler, with 11, also reached double figures. Q Cager (Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky.) fell just shy of the mark with nine points in addition to a team-best five steals.
Overall, WPU committed 11 turnovers, while forcing Grand View into 18 mistakes. That was much of the difference in the game as the Statesmen held an 18-7 mark in points off turnovers. They also outscored the Vikings 16-11 in second-chance points.
Although Abrian Edwards (Sr., Austin, Texas) was unable to get his shots to drop, the nation’s best distributor succeeded in that role once again with nine assists.
William Penn’s 10-0 start to the campaign is its third ever, all coming in the past seven years.
“Penn Gymnasium was alive and rocking tonight,” Henry said. “It made for a great atmosphere on an always fun night.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Dubuque Thursday to face Clarke in Heart action at 7:30 p.m.
