William Penn coach John Henry

William Penn coach John Henry

College basketball teams may be judged on how well they do in the postseason but William Penn men’s coach John Henry says there is still great value in a conference championship.

The Statesmen close out the regular season at home on Saturday afternoon against Baker of Kansas and with a win would grab at least a share of the Heart of America Conference title.

“That is our number one goal every year and especially this year being the first year in the Heart of America Conference”, said Henry. “We were in the Midwest Collegiate for 14 years and this is our first year after changing conferences so it would be nice to win it.”

William Penn improved to 16-5 in the league race after a 97-88 victory on Wednesday night at Central Methodist. They enter the final day of the season tied at the top with Peru State and MidAmerica Nazarene.

“I know how tough it is. A 22-game conference schedule is very brutal and I think it is the most conference games of any conference on any level in the nation. It would be quite an accomplishment.”

There will be plenty riding on the outcome. If two or more teams share the championship a tie breaker will be used to determine the automatic qualifier into the national tournament as well as the top seed in the conference tournament.