Troy Hockaday drives for the winning layup in a 68-66 win over Mercyhurst Friday night.
Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Troy Hockaday drove the length of the court and converted a layup with 0.3 seconds left, lifting host West Chester to a 68-66 victory over visiting Mercyhurst in a PSAC men's basketball contest inside Hollinger Field House Friday night.
West Chester (8-4, 6-2 PSAC) picked up its third straight win and fifth in its last six games while Mercyhurst (9-5, 5-3) dropped another game inside Hollinger Field House. The Lakers lost to East Stroudsburg in the PSAC semifinals a year ago in their last appearance in this gym.
Mercyhurst’s Luis Leao, who poured in a game-high 27 points, was fouled with 5.2 seconds remaining on the clock while taking a baseline turnaround jumper, and then drained both foul shots to tie the game at 66-all. Golden Rams head coach Damien Blair then called timeout to set up one final push up the floor.
Corey Blake ran the baseline on the inbounds and found Hockaday along the far sideline. The sophomore raced up the court and laid in an uncontested layup right before the buzzer. The victory proved to be the 1,300th win in the school’s 115-year history of college men’s basketball.
West Chester held a 10-point lead with 5:24 remaining in the game. However, Mercyhurst managed to outscore the Rams, 14-4, down the stretch, before Hockaday salvaged the win with his heroics.
The Golden Rams have now beaten the Lakers in three of the four meetings since 2008-09 campaign, including two of three times in Hollinger. With the win, West Chester kept pace with Millersville for second place in the Eastern Division standings. Both schools are one game back of East Stroudsburg (7-1), who also was a winner Friday.
Shannon Givens and Blake each scored 14 points to lead the Golden Rams in scoring. Jaleel Mack scored a season-high 11 points, and Carl Johnson hit double figures for the third game in a row with 10.
West Chester welcomes Gannon University to Hollinger Field House Saturday night for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff in the final crossover game of the PSAC schedule.
