Penn Upsets Fighting Bees 

For the William Penn Statesmen (7-12, 1-0) this season could mean nothing but improvement, as they were coming off a 2-30 (0-12 MCC), 2001-02 campaign.  Well improved they have, and the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees (8-10, 1-1) were the first victims of the Statesmen’s 2002-03 Midwest Classic Conference campaign as the Fighting Bees fell 86-77.

The Fighting Bees looked as if they were going to dominate early as they jumped out to a 12-4 lead on a Karl Petersen jumper, with 16:52 showing on the clock.  Petersen finished with a game high 27 points while adding seven rebounds and three blocks.

Also in double digits for the Fighting Bees were Tom Pavljasevic and Brett Jacobs.  Pavljasevic came away with 13 points and a game high nine rebounds.  Jacobs finished with 11 points and seven boards. 

The teams traded the lead for the next nine minutes, when William Penn made a 17-5 run to push their lead to 41-29 with 3:21 to go in the first half.  The Fighting Bees would make a run in the final minute of the first half.

After a Petersen bucket, teammate Jason Geering stole the inbounds pass and nailed a three-pointer with 00:32 left to cut the lead to six.  These gave the Fighting Bees a spark going into halftime. 

The spark looked to be just what the Fighting Bees needed as they stormed out in the second half on a 5-0 run led by a Chad Tancil jumper, a Petersen free-throw and a Tancil lay-up.  This would prove to be all that the Fighting Bees could muster in the second half.

William Penn’s Chris Klassen and Jason Beall were almost too much for the Fighting Bees to handle.  Klassen scored a team high 24 points, shooting 5-for-6 from beyond the arc and Beall scored 20 points, on 9-for-15 shooting, while grabbing a team high five rebounds. 

The Statesmen built their lead up to as many as ten on a Beall lay-up with 1:27 to go in the game, but the Fighting Bees wouldn’t go away without a fight.  The fight would not prove to be enough, as they could only climb within seven in the game’s final minute, as Klassen knocked down six straight free throws in the last 34 seconds.

The Fighting Bees will return home after an eight-game road trip, to face off against MCC foe Grand View College.  Their game will follow the women’s 1:00 p.m. opener at 3:00 p.m. at Lee Lohman Arena.

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