The men’s basketball team ended their 2012-13 campaign on a sour note as they fell to cross-county rival Cheyney 92-83 Wednesday evening and finished second in the PSAC East heading into next week’s PSAC Tournament.
West Chester (19-7) was riding high coming off their upset victory at first-place East Stroudsburg last weekend and with one game remaining could clinch the top seed in the East with a victory. The Wolves of Cheyney (14-12), while putting together a solid record themselves, were playing in their final game of the season as they are ineligible for postseason play. This was their Super Bowl as it was a chance to knock off a serious contender heading into the PSAC Tournament.
West Chester scored on the first possession of the game on an Eric Frans jumper, but wouldn’t see the lead again until the 14 minute mark of the first half. The game went back and forth with neither team being able to put much distance between themselves and the other. Both the Rams and Wolves each held a six point lead in the first 20 minutes with Cheyney taking control at the end of the half to take a 42-38 lead into the break. Both teams shot an impressive 11 for 15 from the charity stripe in the first half, but Cheyney was hot from the field, knocking down 44 percent of their shots to West Chester’s 37 percent.
In the second half the Wolves came out hungry and outscored the Rams 8-2 to extend their lead to 12, 52-40. The Golden Rams were not going to go down quietly as they hung around and finally grabbed the lead back with under nine minutes remaining in the game. The lead got to as many as four before Cheyney went on another run, this time scoring eight unanswered points to take the lead back for good. West Chester had their fair share of chances in the last few minutes of the game but Cheyney went 10 for 10 from the line in the final two minutes to seal West Chester’s fate, losing 92-83.
Senior guard Carl Johnson led the way with 16 points in a contest that saw four Rams reach double figures. Sophomore forward Corey Blake registered 15 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Troy Hockaday put up 14 points and grabbed five boards. Senior guard Jon Breeden struggled from the floor, failing to make a field goal, but made nine of his 10 free throws to finish with nine points and led the team in rebounding with seven and assists with four. Junior guard Shannon Givens added 13 points off the bench.
Cheyney knocked down an astounding 90 percent of their free throws, going 26 of 29 from the line. As a team they shot an impressive 47 percent from the field, which the Golden Rams could not keep up with. The Rams struggled as a team from beyond the arc going just 3 for 16 from three. The Rams pressure racked up eight steals as they are currently ranked seventh in the country in that category. West Chester effectively hit the offensive glass as they pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, effectively turning that into 24 second-chance points.
Being the two-seed, the Golden Rams will be hosting the winner of the three-six matchup in the first round. The three seed Millersville (18-10) defeated sixth seeded Shippensburg Saturday night to advance and face the Rams. West Chester and Millersville split the season series with the road team coming out victorious each time. Over Winter Break, Millersville came into Hollinger Field House and defeated the Rams 68-64. Revenge would be served as West Chester traveled to Millersville and handily won 79-63 in early February. The quarterfinals will be held in Hollinger Field House on Tuesday with tip-off at approximately 7 p.m. If the men advance past the quarterfinals then the semifinals and championship will be held this upcoming Friday and Saturday at a site that is yet to be determined. In the semis, the Golden Rams will most likely face IUP (21-5) who is the top seed from the PSAC West. IUP defeated the Rams in the beginning of December 71-52, but West Chester still remembers their dramatic upset victory in last year’s PSAC Tournament over the Crimson Hawks.
Riley Wallace is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies with a journalism minor. He can be reached at RW718681@wcupa.edu.