Nov. 8, 2005 The lead changed 17 times in Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Dana College and William Penn University. Dana trailed much of the game. At halftime the score favored the Statesmen 48-41. But the Vikings came back to lead 65-61 with 13:38 left on the clock. Minutes ticked off the clock and with only 26 seconds remaining in the game Dana was down 87-89. Viking Jason Isaacson (Council Bluffs, Iowa) stole the ball and scored a layup to tie the score at 89 points and send the game into overtime. Dana moved ahead of William Penn 95-91 in the first overtime, but WPU rallied back to tie the score at 95 and forced a second overtime. The teams traded points evenly and by the end of the second overtime the score was 106-106.

The Statesmen were first to score in the third overtime by making one of two free throws. Dana answered with a Tyler Mohr (Ocheyedan, Iowa) pass into Mark Esser (Woodbine, Iowa) for the layup. Esser blocked the Statesmen’s next shot and even though the Statesmen got the rebound, they missed their second attempt as well. The Vikings took advantage of the opportunity with an Isaacson layup for a 3-point lead.

William Penn moved the score to 110-109 with a layup. But foul trouble hurt Willam Penn. The Statesmen were stuck at 109 points for nearly two minutes in the third overtime. The Vikings made five free throws in those two minutes to increase their lead to nine points. William Penn could not catch up. Dana won 123-117.

“This is a big win for us because we came from behind, kept fighting all the way through, and found a way to win,” said coach Chris Fear.

Esser set a new Dana College school record with 12 blocked shots in the game. He also scored a triple-double with 31 points,17 rebounds, and 12 blocked shots.

Isaacson scored 34 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

Mohr made some big hustle plays- stealing the ball several times at the end. He also made some key 3-pointers in the game. Mohr was 4 for 6 from the three-point line.

Now 1-1, Dana’s next appearance will be at the Nebraska/Kansas Classic in Fremont, Neb. The two-day tournament pairs Dana with Ottawa University at 6pm Friday and vs. Baker University at 2pm on Saturday.

 
Game stats are available at http://www.dana.edu/mens_basketball/stats/wpudanm.htm

Photos of William Penn game