Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Junior Troy Hockaday tied his career-high of 20 points, making seven out of his nine shots in the paint, as host West Chester downed cross-county rival Cheyney, 79-71, in a PSAC East men’s basketball grudge match inside Hollinger Field House Wednesday night.
West Chester (13-5, 11-3 PSAC) upped its personal winning streak against Cheyney (8-10, 6-8) to three games on the strength of Hockaday’s game-high 20 and teammate Corey Blake’s double-double. The Rustin High star scored 16 points and tied his career high with 13 rebounds. Blake went 6-for-9 at the line.
The Golden Rams began to pull away in the first six minutes of the second half, outscoring the Wolves by a 14-4 margin that opened up a 10-point lead for the hosts. The two teams were knotted at 34-all after 20 minutes of play.
Jaleel Mack (10 points) sparked the first of a pair of 7-2 runs with five points in the first three minutes of the final period. Hockaday hit a pair of layups, along with Jon Breeden (11 points) and Matt Wisely (10 points) to ignite the next spurt and put West Chester in control, 48-38, with 14 minutes remaining.
West Chester put five players in double figures. The Rams’ lead eventually grew to 15 (66-51) with 4:31 remaining, before Cheyney made its final push. The Wolves cut the deficit to five (69-64) with 1:58 to go. Rashaad Slappy completed a 3-point play to cap the 13-3 run for Cheyney.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with 14 lead changes. Cheyney’s largest lead was three while West Chester’s biggest margin was a bucket.
Cheyney was led by Slappy's 19 points while Jason Sabb added 17 and Brandon Norfleet 15.
West Chester returns to Hollinger Field House Saturday afternoon for a showdown with No. 20 East Stroudsburg at 4 p.m. The game features a rematch of the 2012 PSAC Championship Game won by the Warriors in Hollinger last spring while pitting the first- and second-place teams in the league standings this winter.
Saturday marks the first of two regular-season tilts between the Warriors and Rams. ESU enters riding a 10-game winning streak and in first place in the Eastern Division. West Chester is in second place.
