KANSAS CITY, MO. — The William Penn men’s basketball team saw its remarkable season come to a close in heartbreaking fashion as it fell 79-78 in overtime to #4 seed Montana Tech in the Round of 16 of the NAIA National Championship Monday.

Top-seeded WPU (30-4), which owned a 59-44 rebounding edge over the Orediggers (29-4), could not overcome a 39.0%-36.4% shooting deficit.

In a game that featured 10 ties and 17 lead changes, the Statesmen trailed 22-21 with 6:48 left in the first half, but scored 11 straight points and went into the break ahead 33-24.

William Penn pushed its advantage to a game-high 13 points at 54-41 with 13:23 remaining before Montana Tech started to fight back.  The Orediggers not only caught the Statesmen, but actually went ahead late.

The Statesmen eventually trailed 71-68 entering the final minute, but Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) made a layup on the next possession.  WPU then managed a defensive stop and on the other end, Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master’s of Organizational Leadership) was fouled on an offensive rebound.

Daley missed his first try, but was able to force overtime by connecting on his second attempt; MTU missed a half-court shot as time expired.

The teams went back and forth in the extra session with the navy and gold claiming their final lead on a Daley free throw with 36 seconds left.  The Orediggers answered with two of their own charity stripe attempts, but left the Statesmen 24 seconds to work on a game-winning shot.  Unfortunately, William Penn was unable to get the look it wanted and missed a contested shot at the buzzer.

The Statesmen were slightly better from behind the arc at 31.0%-30.4% (nine three-pointers), but lost the free-throw battle at 75.0%-65.0% (13-for-20).

Daley finished his decorated career with a team-high 21 points in addition to 12 rebounds for a double-double.  CJ Washington (Jr., Houston, Texas, Interdisciplinary Studies) knocked down two early three-pointers (three total) en route to 11 points, while Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) matched Daley with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Daniel Autrey (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Business Management) also connected on three trifectas for nine points off the bench, while Cruesoe and Malik Edwards (Fr., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management) both finished with eight points.  Cruesoe also dished out eight assists Monday.

Four Statesmen reached double figures in rebounds as Edwards and Autrey both pulled down 10 boards.

Jayvin Brown (Fr., Waldorf, Md., Sports Management) supplied a huge boost off the bench, scoring five points in addition to steals in just four minutes.  Marcus Bell (Jr., Shreveport, La., Exercise Science) stole two balls as well.

The Statesmen committed 20 turnovers (13 for the Orediggers), but were only outscored 14-13 in points off turnovers.