West Chester University men’s basketball team (17-3, 13-3 PSAC East) enjoyed a two-game home slate this week, taking on Kutztown University (15-4, 12-3) and Shippensburg University (12-7, 9-6) inside of Hollinger Field House in front of the WCU faithful.
The Golden Rams grappled with the Kutztown Golden Bears on Wednesday, Jan. 27, falling 84-75 to the team whom they’ll square off with in their season finale. The battle for the PSAC throne has been a matchup circled on both teams’ schedules for the past few weeks. Three players, Malik Jackson (13), Matt Wiseley (12) and Thomas White (11) all reached the double-digit scoring ledger for WCU, combining to go a healthy 11-of-20 from the field.
The first half proved to be a back-and-forth affair, with Kutztown maintaining a marginal lead throughout the majority of the period. West Chester managed to claim a one-point lead on a Jackson three-pointer with 6:02 left in the frame, but any Golden Ram efforts to up that number were rebuffed by Kutztown, who was led by 23 points from Anthony Lee and 15 from Austin Beidelman. Josh Johnson and Ryan Connolly both added 14 points, with the former snagging down nine rebounds, making him one shy of a double-double. Ethan Ridgeway, whom hails from West Chester’s own Bayard Rustin High School, added four points in 13 minutes of action.
From an offensive standpoint, the Golden Bears’ offensive machine was humming with a ferocity that could not be contained for a majority of the contest, as they shot a strong 47.5 percent for the game, including 48.5 percent in the first half (42.8 percent from downtown). Their three-point shooting tapered off in the second half, plummeting to 22.2 percent, but they still managed to shoot the ball from everywhere else with alarming accuracy, shooting 46.1 percent on field goals.
WCU fell on the opposite end of the shooting spectrum, only managing to connect on 40 percent of their attempts for the game. The defeat could be accredited to the Golden Rams’ poor shooting, as they trumped KU in every other major statistical category including: points in the paint (36-32), second chance points (19-8), and bench points (29-15). Kutztown raced out to a 12-point lead in the second half, and WCU was unable to regain their bearings, only managing to slice the lead to as low as seven. In the waning moments of the second half, Kutztown established a 13-point lead, their largest of the game and one that proved to be insurmountable for West Chester.
The Golden Rams were able to regroup and notch a victory over the Shippensburg Red Raiders inside of Hollinger on Saturday, Jan. 30, prevailing 64-59 in front of 745 fans. Four WCU players tallied double-figures, with Jackson’s 18 points leading the way. White recorded a double-double as he dropped 11 points and corralled 11 boards, and he also blocked two shots. Avery Brown chipped in with 11 points of his own, and Tyrell Long added another 10.
This game proved to be hotly contested, with both teams unable to secure a lead that exceeded five points. Although West Chester was outmuscled in most stats, they held the Red Raiders to zero fast break points, eliminating the easy buckets that allowed the Golden Bears to run rampant on them earlier in the week. Shippensburg’s shooting performance wasn’t one to hoot-and-holler about, and their ugly field goal percentage of 39 is indicative of this, especially in the second half where their offensive momentum came to a screeching halt after a 44 percent field goal shooting period. Shippensburg was also hindered by their poor free throw shooting, converting on only five of their 11 attempts from the line.
Two players scored in double-figures for the Red Raiders, as Jay Hardy and Justin McArthur both scored 11 in defeat. Dustin Sleva added 9 points and 7 rebounds, with Abe Massaley dropping 8 points and 6 rebounds, a far cry from his season-high 31-point outburst at home against WCU back in December.
Wiseley and Jackson were both recognized for their strong play as they both earned PSAC Weekly Awards honors. Wiseley was named the PSAC East Athlete of the Week, and his running mate Jackson was named the PSAC East Rookie of the Week. Wiseley averaged 11 points and 11 rebounds for the week, while Jackson averaged 17.5 points per outing.
This week WCU will venture off to Bloomsburg University to take on the Huskies, whom they topped 81-76 at home back in December. The loss to Kutztown makes every game for the rest of the season extremely important if West Chester hopes to reclaim the no. 1 spot in the PSAC.
B.J. Boyer is a third-year student. He can be reached at WB806695@wcupa.edu.