The hot perimeter shooting of brothers’ Jeff and Tyree Brickus, along with key contributions from Bilal Salaam, Ben Arnold, and T.J. Mann, proved costly as visiting Kutztown University defeated the Golden Rams 81-64. Kutztown is now 11-8; 3-3 in the PSAC East, while the Golden Rams fall to 11-9; 2-4 in the PSAC East. “We have played so well at home so it’s disappointing and they [Kutztown] shot the ball really well tonight. When you shoot the ball like they did you try different match-ups but there’s not a whole lot you can do,” said West Chester Head Coach Dick DeLaney, referring to Kutztown shooting close to 60 percent for the game.The Golden Rams led early in the contest 15-6 with 6’8″ Kofi Danquah scoring nine early points in the first nine minutes of play.
However, Danquah was forced to watch from the bench when he was whistled for his second personal foul with 11:00 minutes still remaining in the first half. At the time Danquah went to the bench, the game was tied 19-19.
But Kutztown then proceeded on a 25-15 run to close out the first half of play taking a 44-34 lead into halftime, with Danquah and later Sam Grannum being in foul trouble in the first half.
The Golden Bears Center Salaam scored 10 points in the first half, but was held to a single bucket when Danquah returned in the second half. The Brickus brothers, Jeff and Tyree, both graduates of basketball power Coatesville High School, combined for 13 first-half points.
Junior guard Matt Kurtz led the Golden Rams in the first half, scoring 11 points shooting a perfect 4-4 from the floor in the first half. In the second half the Golden Rams got the score to 65-52.
However, the Golden Bears answered with baskets by Arnold, Mann, and a three-pointer by Jeff Brickus to take a 74-58 advantage.
“Kutztown’s statistics have shown it; they haven’t shot the ball like this all year. They’ve had some very bad shooting games but in the second half they continued to make shots. We had nights like that too where everything you put up is going in, but tonight things just didn’t work” said DeLaney.
For the Golden Rams, Brandon Long had another nice game scoring 13 points in 35 minutes of action. Golden Rams big men Danquah and Grannum combined for 23 points also.
West Chester must stay positive in the coming weeks as they enter the most crucial part of their schedule. “Now we just got to get back to the drawing table There are six more games in the league. I’ve been in this position before where you win, get on a hot streak and end up getting a playoff spot. So we’ll come out, play hard and turn it around,”said DeLaney.
It was suprising to see he Golden Rams lose to the Bears’. Considering that the Rams had a record of 11-8 coming into the game and Kuztown only held a record of 9-8.
The Golden Rams will host a huge game Wednesday night versus East Stroudsburg (8:00p.m. tip -off). Both squads are battling for playoff spots.