William Penn Hoping for SAU Title After Being Upset by Grand View in Quarters
William Penn kept it close to the end, but eventually fell to Grand View
Oskaloosa–National Tournament Plan B has now unfortunately been put into effect as the second-seeded Statesmen were upset by #7 seed Grand View 93-88 in the quarterfinals of the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Wednesday.
With the loss, William Penn’s tournament adventure ends just as quickly as it began, but now a new, awkward chapter begins called ‘Cheering for St. Ambrose’. As painful as it will be for the Statesmen (17-14) to root for a league rival, a tourney title by the Fighting Bees would result in William Penn earning the MCC’s second bid to the NAIA National Championships in March.
On a night of upsets, top seed St. Ambrose was the lone higher seed to hold court, dropping #8 Iowa Wesleyan 86-79. In other action, #6 seed Mount Mercy upended #3 Ashford 77-74 and #5 Waldorf slipped past #4 Clarke 76-70.
In Friday’s semifinal round, St. Ambrose will host Waldorf and Mount Mercy will host Grand View. In a glass-half-full stance, outside of winning Wednesday, the Statesmen could not have asked for a better situation as the Fighting Bees have the three lowest remaining seeds to compete against for the tourney crown.
Supported by one of the most raucous home crowds in recent history, the navy and gold took an early lead, eventually going up by as much as five at 20-15 at the 10:19 mark of the first half.
Unfortunately, the Vikings (16-12) found their shooting legs and took a 42-38 lead into the break. At that juncture, the visitors were only outshooting their hosts 45.0%-36.4%. That margin ballooned after intermission however.
William Penn clawed back into the lead twice in the second stanza (both by one point), but Josh Henry’s three-pointer with 10:50 left gave Grand View the lead for good.
While the Statesmen never lost hope and managed to pull within two in the final minute, they were unable complete the rally and move on in the tournament.
Grand View held a 50.0%-36.1% advantage from the field and turned 15 William Penn turnovers into 18 points. The Vikings committed 14 mistakes (eight WPU points).
The navy and gold were successful in keeping the contest close by shooting a remarkable 26-of-28 at the line, including 13-of-14 by Alan Douglas (Sr., Champaign, Ill., Lakeland CC).
If it is indeed his last collegiate contest, the senior made it a great one by tallying yet another double-double (12th of the year) with 27 points and 11 rebounds. He also tied teammate Blake Walker (So., Rose Garden, Ga., Campbell HS) for the squad lead in assists with four.
The Statesmen also narrowed the gap with a productive showing on the boards (47-42), resulting in an 18-8 edge in second-chance points.
Keith Steffeck (Jr., Marion, Marion HS) joined Douglas with a double-double of his own, tallying 22 points and ten rebounds. It is his third such performance of the campaign.
Davis Spielbauer (Jr., Wapello, Wapello HS) pitched in 15 points, while Walker added 11. Arman Rasul (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Illinois-Chicago) managed six in the losing cause. Both Rasul and Steffeck blocked a pair of shots
