Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Troy Hockaday scored a career-high 24 points to lead host West Chester to a 73-62 victory over visiting Millersville in a PSAC Quarterfinal round contest inside Hollinger Field House Tuesday evening.
West Chester (20-7) advances to the PSAC Semifinals Friday and will take on Indiana (Pa.), who was an 89-87 winner over Edinboro in overtime on Tuesday. Millersville ends its season at 19-11. It marks the second straight year and ninth time overall that the Golden Rams have advanced to the conference final four.
“That was a hard-fought game,” WCU head coach Damien Blair said. “Millersville is an excellent team and they played hard all night.”
“I give (West Chester) credit,” Millersville head coach Fred Thompson said afterwards. “They beat us two out of three, so I guess they were the better team.”
A 15-7 run by West Chester to open the second half gave the hosts a 49-38 lead. Hockaday knocked down a 3-pointer with 13:35 to finish off the run and put the Golden Rams in control.
“(Millersville) was playing a zone, and I was wide open,” Hockaday said. “I knew that if I knocked it down, it would be big for us.”
“Speed and depth are our strengths,” Blair added. “A lot of (Hockaday’s) points came on run outs, and he finished against the best defensive player in our division (Elijah Obade).”
West Chester forced Millersville into 21 turnovers and outscored the Marauders by 15 at the foul line.
“We wanted to attack their bigs and get them in foul trouble,” Hockaday interjected. “We wanted to finish around the rim.”
The Golden Rams shot just 26.3 percent in the first half, but still led by three (34-31) at halftime. They finished 32.8 percent from the field for the game (22 of 67). Blair attributed that statistic to how well West Chester defends.
Jon Breeden and Corey Blake, both of WCU’s all-league honorees, finished with an identical 14 points. Blake contributed a team-high nine rebounds and was 8-for-8 from the foul line. Breeden came up with six steals in the contest and was 5 of 6 from the charity stripe, including 3-for-4 in the final two minutes.
"I just want to go on record as saying that Carl Johnson is one of the best guards in this league," Blair declared in the press conference. "And, I don't think he gets the credit that he deserves. We do not win this game tonight, if we don't have him in the lineup.
Anthony Coleman notched a team-high 17 points for the Marauders. Elijah Obade had a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) in his final college game while Brandon Brown added 10.
With the win, West Chester reached the 20-win mark in a single season for the first time since 2003 and just the ninth time in school history. It is the most wins in a single season for Blair in his five years on the bench.
East Stroudsburg, the top seed in the East, advanced to the semifinals with an easy 102-74 victory at home. Slippery Rock outlasted Gannon, 62-58, in overtime in the other quarterfinal out west. IUP, East Stroudsburg and West Chester all reached the conference semifinals for the second consecutive year.
West Chester and IUP will play in the second semifinal on Friday night at the Kovalchick Convocation and Athletics Complex. Game time will be set Wednesday morning. Tickets will be $14 for adults (two-day passes sold on Friday), or $8 on Saturday only. A $2 facility fee will be added to each ticket purchased. Student tickets are $5 for the two-day pass and $3 on Saturday only, plus the facility fee. Students from member PSAC institutions will be admitted free with a valid school ID.
Fans can order tickets by phone at: 1-800-298-4200, or they can order tickets online at
www.kovalchickcomplex.com, or www.comcasttix.com.
