Cory Blake Saves West Chester Men In Thriller Against Gannon, 73-72

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – These West Chester-Gannon men's basketball matchups are becoming something of legend in Southeastern PA. They certainly have been the "must-see" game of the season the past three years.
 
In Saturday's latest installment, West Chester junior forward Cory Blake intercepted a pass during a frantic final 10 seconds and drove the lane for a go-ahead layup with 8.5 ticks left. Then, teammate Troy Hockaday blocked a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer, lifting the Golden Rams to a 73-72 victory inside Hollinger Field House.
 
With the win, the Golden Rams upped its winning streak over the Golden Knights to three straight – all three coming at home inside Hollinger. Those three wins have come by a combined seven points.
 
West Chester (9-4) delivered head coach Damien Blair his 100th career coaching win in the college ranks with its third straight triumph over Gannon (6-7) in as many years. Blair, who boasts a career coaching record of 100-47 at his alma mater, is the fastest Golden Rams mentor to reach the milestone.
 
That milestone would have had to wait until possibly next Wednesday on the road at Clarion was it not for the Golden Rams' 10-for-10 effort at the free throw line down the stretch and Blake's refusal to let this game get away.
 
West Chester, which led almost the entire contest, including by 18 points at one time, found itself trailing, 71-67, with 43 seconds left in the game. R.J. Griffin grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and nailed both his free throws with 35 seconds left to get the Rams back to within a bucket at 71-69. When Raphell Thomas-Edwards made just one of two foul shots with 26 seconds to play, West Chester still had a breath of life left, trailing by three (72-69).
 
Edwards then fouled Griffin in the corner with 18 seconds remaining, coming out of a timeout, without any time slipping off the game clock. Griffin, once again, knocked down each of his foul shots to pull West Chester within a single point at 72-71.
 
Out of timeouts, Gannon raced along the end line and finally got the ball inbounds to Brandon Emmitt. Trapped in the near corner, Emmitt sent a pass to the top of the key where Blake stepped in front of a Gannon player and drove down the lane for a layup that put the home team on top, 73-72.
 
The Golden Knights had one more opportunity left in them. The visitors inbounded the ball and scurried up court where preseason all-league selection Adam Blazek gave a pump fake to Hockaday just inside the 3-point arc and got the Rams' senior in the air. Blazek waited for Hockaday to sail past and then went up for his potential game-winning shot.
 
However, Hockaday regrouped by twisting his body around and throwing up his left arm and blocking Blazek's shot with one second to go.
 
Blake, who finished with a season-high 18 points, made six free throws down the stretch to help West Chester pull out the win. Blake's layup with 8.5 seconds left was the Golden Rams' first field goal since a 3-pointer from Shannon Givens at the 6:29 mark.
 
Blake, who has not lost to Gannon in three tries, averages 18.7 points per game against the Knights. He put up a career-high 25 points in an 83-79 overtime victory versus Gannon his freshman year. He netted 13 last winter in a 66-64 victory that was also decided in the final seconds of the game.
 
Griffin and Shannon Givens each finished with 13 points in the game. Hockaday posted 11 points.
 
Blazek led Gannon with 16 points. A'Darius Porter scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists. Emmitt had 13 points off the bench while Rogerio Livramento added 10.
 
West Chester travels to Clarion University on Wednesday for its final PSAC West crossover, as well as its final non-conference tilt, of the season. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.