Box Score
Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Corey Blake led West Chester with 19 points, including a clutch game-clinching free throw with 10 seconds left as the host Golden Rams defeated visiting California (Pa.) and Keith Lowe’s 25 points, 83-78, Saturday afternoon inside of Hollinger Field House.
West Chester (3-2, 1-0 PSAC) keeps their win streak intact at three games with the win. Cal (1-3, 0-1) suffers its third loss in its first four games of the season. Cal’s three losses are by a combined eight points.
West Chester started off well in the first half, building a 37-26 lead off of Tim Flecken’s 11 points, including nine from beyond the arc. Blake and Troy Hockaday also chipped in with six points each before the break.
West Chester built the lead by forcing 15 first half turnovers by the Vulcans and cashing in 13 points off of those miscues.
The Golden Rams held that lead throughout the first part of the second half with their lead never shrinking below seven. However, over the final eight minutes, Cal mounted its comeback by causing turnovers and got West Chester into the bonus early. The Rams lead shrank to just a bucket (58-56) with eight minutes to go.
The seasaw affair began with about three minutes remaining as West Chester and Cal traded buckets. The Golden Rams then held a three-point lead with 10 seconds remaining, after Blake knocked down the second of two free throw attempts. Cal’s Keith Lowe was off the mark with a potential game-tying shot, and the Vulcans then had to foul. Carl Johnson went to the line this time and sank both free throws in a double bonus situation to salt the game away.
Flecken finished with 13 points, 11 in the first half, while Breeden posted 11 points and five assists. Johnson knocked down 13 points, after entering the game in the second half for the first time. Harley Williamson finished with 11 points off the bench as well.
The Rams’ 51.9 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes (14 of 27) was enough to keep the Vulcans red-hot second-half performance (19 of 31 for 61.3 percent) from the field a moot point.
West Chester is back in action tomorrow against No. 15 Indiana (Pa.), at Hollinger Field House at 3 pm. The Crimson Hawks fell at Cheyney on Saturday, 64-60. Cal will travel to Cheyney on Sunday.
