La Crosse, Wis. - The Viterbo University Men's Basketball season came to an end Friday night as they were defeated in the Midwest Collegiate Conference Semifinals by the visiting William Penn Statesmen 75-68.

The first half saw a lot of back-and-forth action as there was six ties and six lead changes with the largest lead of the half being a seven point advantage for the Statesmen. The V-Hawks cut into this early deficit as Ryan Ambrose (Sr. - Jr. - Twin Lakes, Wis.) hit back-to-back three pointers to give Viterbo a 19-18 advantage with 9:01 remaining. The V-Hawks would go into the break with a 37-33 lead led by Ryan Ambrose's 10 points.

The second half belonged to William Penn's Kris Miller. Miller scored 23 of his game high 32 points in the second half as the Statesmen went on a 21-8 run giving them a 61-55 lead with 8:30 remaining. The V-Hawks would fight back to within two points with :37 remaining but that's as close as they would come as the Statesmen connected on their late free throws and came away with the victory.

Miller connected on seven three-pointers in the game while he also blocked three crucial shots late in the game for the Statesmen. The V-Hawks were led by three players in double figures with Eric Ambrose (Sr. - Twin Lakes, Wis.) leading the way with 17 points. Scott Buschman (Sr. - Naperville, Ill.) collected his 23^rd double-double on the season as he scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Ryan Ambrose was the third V-Hawk in double figures as he finished with 13 points.

The V-Hawks finished 25-53 (47.2%) from the field compared to 24-59 (40.7%) by the Statesmen. Miller's three pointers proved to be the difference as the rest of the Statesmen players shot just 1-15 (6.7%) from long range. The Statesmen also held a 42-34 rebounding edge over the V-Hawks as they collected 13 offensive rebounds on the night.

Buschman added to his list of accomplishments this season as he surpassed the 2,000 point mark for his career. Buschman, needing just six points for 2,000, reached the milestone on two made free throws in the first half. Buschman will end his career at Viterbo with 2,009 points ranking him third all-time.

The loss will end Viterbo's season with a 14-15 record as William Penn improves to 22-10 as they advance to the MCC Championship to face the #1 seed Grand View Vikings.