Wildcats Clinch Home Playoff Game With Thrilling 96-93 Overtime Win Over #7 William Penn

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – Clinching at least the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and earning a first-round home playoff game, the Baker men's basketball team knocked off No. 7 William Penn in overtime on Wednesday evening to hand the Statesmen their first conference loss of the season, 96-93.

Baker had five different players score in double figures on the night, with Noah Rigatuso leading the way off the bench with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while also going 6-for-7 from the free throw line. Baker's Braden Wiggs was the next highest scorer with 18, while both Jalen Patterson and Quentin Harvey added 16 points and Justin Batts II tacked on 11 points.

Patterson's 16 points, now puts him 17 points shy of moving into sixth in all-time scoring at Baker University. Baker couldn't win the rebounding battle, but the starting five combined for 27 of the team's 51 rebounds, with Wiggs leading the way with eight boards.

The key to the game was at the free throw line as the Wildcats went 19-of-25 to shoot 76 percent at the line, while William Penn was just 6-for-16 and shot 37.5 percent.

Inside a loud Collins Center, the Wildcats jumped out to an early 13-6 lead on a layup from Rigatuso, just four minutes into the game. William Penn then came fighting their way back, tying the game at 17 with a layup of their own.

With just 5:35 left to go in the first half, William Penn led Baker, 33-24, but a three-point play by Rigatuso after a timeout stopped the bleeding and cut the lead to just six, 33-27. The Statesmen were able to stretch their lead back to nine, but in the final 1:26, the Wildcats held WPU scoreless and rattled off six straight points to head into the locker room trailing 44-41.

Baker continued to claw their way back early in the second half and after a layup by Justin Batts II tied the game at 48, a layup from Rigatuso gave Baker the lead once again, 50-48 with 16:04 to play in regulation.

Neither team could gain an edge over the next few minutes and with 9:43 to play, the Wildcats trailed by one point, 63-62. After going 0-for-2 from three in the first half, Quentin Harvey knocked down a huge three to give Baker the lead once again late in the second half. On the very next possession he followed it up with another three and then added a layup, giving Baker a strong 71-65 lead with 6:45 left in regulation.

After WPU had cut the lead to one, another huge three, this time by Jalen Patterson extend the lead to 74-70 but a three on the other end brought it back to within one. Trading three's Patterson sank his second straight three as the Collins Center erupted.

With 1:53 to go in the game, Baker trailed the Statesmen, 81-77, but four straight free throws by Ty Henry late tied the game at 81 with 12 seconds to go. The Statesmen were able to get a shot off, but it came up short and the game went to overtime.

After William Penn scored first in the overtime period, Baker rattled off six straight points to hold onto an 87-83 lead early in overtime. After WPU brought it back once again to 89-88, Patterson sank his fourth three-pointer of the game and gave Baker a 92-88 lead.

After a layup by Baker's Ty Henry, WPU hit a big three at the other end as Baker led by just one with nine seconds to go, 94-93. After a foul, Braden Wiggs stepped up to the free throw stripe and sank two huge free throws as Baker led, 96-93. William Penn once again got up a shot late, but it fell short once again and the Wildcats defeated William Penn, 96-93.

Baker is now 21-6 on the season and 16-5 in Heart of America play and have clinched a home playoff of game on Thursday, Feb. 23. Before then, the Wildcats will finish off the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 18, when they host Peru State at 4 p.m., inside the Collins Center for Senior Day.

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