The West Chester men’s basketball team pushes its home record to 7-2 with two wins this past week over PSAC opponents, Mansfield Wednesday night and Millersville on Saturday afternoon.
West Chester (11-9, 8-8) continued its winning ways at Hollinger Fieldhouse Wednesday, with 92-79 victory over Mansfield (7-13, 4-12). The Golden Rams started the game hot, jumping out to a 23-14 lead in the first eight minutes.
Because of Lance McDowell’s 15 first-half points, West Chester took a 52-43 lead into the locker room. West Chester’s success behind the arc in the first half was the difference as they made 5 of 7 three pointers and holding the Mountaineers to just 2 of 8.
Mansfield came out in the second half and made sure everyone knew they weren’t going down quietly as they cut West Chester’s lead to four with a 12-3 run with 13 minutes to play, and took the lead with 8:30 left in the contest, 72-71. It was Mansfield’s first lead since leading 13-12 with over 13 minutes left in the first half.
The Golden Rams answered right back with a 10-1 run of its own and outscored the Mountaineers 20-8 the rest of the way to claim the 13 point victory. West Chester shot an impressive 53% from the field, and 50% from three, while holding Mansfield to just 43% from the field and a struggling 24% from three. Guard Jon Breeden and freshman forward Corey Blake led the Golden Rams with 21 points apiece, and McDowell added 17 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, recording his third straight double-double.
Guard Jaleel Mack provided a spark off the bench, scoring 17 points. Breeden and his fellow back-court mate, Carl Johnson each dished out six assists. Freshmen Joe Bell led the Mountaineers with 30 points, while shooting a perfect 12 for 12 from the field. Cory Henneghan and Chuck Harper each scored in double figures for Mansfield, scoring 14 and 11 respectively.
West Chester won its fifth out of its last six games on Saturday with its commanding win over fifth place Millersville, 81-70. The fourth place Golden Rams extended their lead over the fifth place Marauders to three games with their victory inside Hollinger Fieldhouse.
Coming into the game, Millersville (7-13, 5-11) was in desperate need of a victory in order to close the gap between the two teams as West Chester holds onto the final playoff spot in the PSAC East division. West Chester came out seeking revenge for their six point loss to the Marauders in mid-January. Millersville led early 4-2, but the Golden Rams took control from there and the Marauders never sniffed the lead the rest of the way.
West Chester shot a red-hot 74% from the field in the first half and Millersville just couldn’t keep up as West Chester raced out to a 41-24 halftime lead. The Golden Rams shot a more mediocre 48% in the second half but their defense once again held their opponent to a rough shooting night. Millersville shot only 6 of 20 from beyond the arc in contrast to West Chester’s 5 of 8.
Millersville did manage to outscore West Chester 46-40 in the second half but it was not enough to overcome the deficit, as West Chester prevailed. The Rams showed its depth Saturday as they were in foul trouble most of the game, with three eventually fouling out. Guard Khalif Foster was the first West Chester player to foul out, picking up his fifth with over six minutes to play.
McDowell and Blake both joined him on the bench as each picked up their fifth foul in the last five minutes of the game. Four players scored in double figures for the Golden Rams and nine players had over 10 minutes of playing time. The three guards for West Chester, Breeden, Johnson, and Mack combined for 40 of the team’s 81 points. McDowell was the other Golden Ram to reach double figures, scoring 10 points in only 15 minutes of playing time. Breeden led the team with 8 rebounds and Mack assisted on a team-high 8 scoring plays.
Larry Grant led the Marauders with 24 points and Elijah Obade added 17 of his own.
West Chester faces by far its toughest week of the year as they welcome Kutztown (14-5, 11-5) to Hollinger Fieldhouse on Wednesday. Having won 10 of its last 11, the Golden Bears should provide a tough test for the Golden Rams.
After playing Kutztown, the Golden Rams has to travel to Bloomsburg (15-6, 11-5) for a Saturday afternoon matchup. The Bloomsburg Huskies have won their last two games and are currently tied with Kutztown University atop the PSAC East standings.
Riley Wallace is a third-year student at West Chester University. He can be reached at RW718681@wcupa.edu.