Hope floats: Weekend sweep gives QU men strong belief they can rise in GLVC Tournament seeding

QUINCY — Adam Moore’s description of Jalen Stamps’ offensive rebound in the waning seconds of Saturday’s game probably wouldn’t be fit for print and likely would draw an NC-17 rating if it were to go public.

“If I was on live TV, I’d have to say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’” Moore said with a smile.

But it was an emphatic and apt way to describe a season-saving play.

With 13.3 seconds remaining and the Quincy University men’s basketball team clinging to a two-point lead, Charles Callier missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Stamps, who was standing beyond the 3-point stripe, saw the ball carom hard off the rim and chased down the rebound in the right corner.

The junior guard dribbled along the baseline, turned to pull the ball out and was fouled with 10.5 seconds left. Stamps made both free throws, helping preserve a 65-61 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory in the Hawks’ home finale at Pepsi Arena.

“To have the basketball knowledge to know he has enough space to stay inbounds and then to not force anything and dribble it out to get fouled, that’s awesome,” said Moore, the QU redshirt junior forward. “That’s awesome.”

It sent the Hawks out in style.

Quincy swept a GLVC weekend for the first time since beating Lewis and Illinois-Springfield back-to-back in January 2020. Better yet, the Hawks (14-14, 7-11 GLVC) hold out hope of finishing in the top eight in the GLVC Point Rating System with two road games remaining.

Teams finishing Nos. 2-8 in the rating system will play host to a first-round GLVC Tournament game.

Quincy is 10th after Saturday’s game.

“Seeing that light at the end of the tunnel, regardless if we won or lost, has kept our spirits high just knowing there’s something to play for at the end of the season,” said Moore, who finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. “That’s what is keeping us going right now.”

That glimmer of hope is why he’s not ready to say this was his last game at Pepsi Arena.

“I don’t even want to put those words into my head,” said Moore, who graduates in May. “I think we can buy one. I really think we can buy one here. … If we win these last two, we’ll be able to host a GLVC (Tournament) game, which would be awesome for the town of Quincy.

“I know how much they live and breathe basketball. To get this place filled up and playing for a reason, that’s a memory we want.”

The Hawks got a pretty good memory Saturday thanks to Stamps.

A dominant first half defensively led to William Jewell shooting just 23.3 percent from the field and 10 percent from 3-point range as Quincy built a 33-18 halftime lead. The advantage grew as large as 18 points at one point in the first half, but with 8:30 remaining in regulation, it had dwindled to just three.

The Cardinals took their first lead at 56-55 on a Grant Stubbs layin with 2:46 to play, but the Hawks regained the lead for good at 59-58 on a pair of Stamps free throws with 1:41 remaining. Four consecutive Nate Shockey free throws extended the lead to five with 34 seconds to play.

William Jewell wouldn’t die. A three-point play by Stubbs with 14.8 seconds left made it a 63-61 QU lead before Callier was fouled, missed the free throw and Stamps chased down the rebound to put the game away.

“I saw the guy jump for the rebound and he jumped a little early,” Stamps said. “I knew with my speed I could get that. I just took off and ran and grabbed it.”

After that, he made the smart decision to pull it out.

“I was thinking maybe I’d go score, but I was like, ‘Nah, nah, nah, nah, they’re going to foul. They need to foul,’” Stamps said. “So it was get the ball and let’s go.”

The free throws fell as Stamps finished the game 6 of 8 from the line with the Hawks going 14 of 18 overall. It helped overcome a 16.7-percent shooting effort from 3-point range and the second-half letdown.

With a GLVC Tournament home game in sight, the Hawks understand the victories are the only things that matter.

“That’s always been the goal,” Stamps said of a top-eight seed. “We were already showing we had strong capabilities of winning close games against the top teams in the conference. It showed us where we’re at. We have to tune up some things in tight situations to guarantee we come out with a win.”