West Chester Hangs On For 87-84 Overtime Victory At Lock Haven

Box Score

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Shannon Givens nailed a pair of free throws with 7.8 seconds left in overtime to help West Chester an 87-84 overtime victory over host Lock Haven (14-8, 7-5) in a PSAC East men's basketball game Wednesday.
 
Senior Troy Hockaday led West Chester (16-7, 9-4 PSAC East) with 17 points. Givens finished with 13. Lock Haven (14-8, 7-5) fell back into fourth place in the Eastern Division standings, after missing out on its opportunity to pull even with the Golden Rams in the league standings. WCU moved within one-half game of second place Bloomsburg, who did not play a league opponent Wednesday.
 
Ben Mingledough made a layup with 1:18 remaining in OT that gave the Golden Rams an 85-82 lead. Lock Haven's Bootsie Walker then made a layup with 10 seconds left as West Chester guarded the 3-point line and forced the Bald Eagles to go for two and hope to get a steal on the inbounds, or foul.
 
The Eagles fouled, but Givens answered the call and drained his foul shots to push the lead back to three. A desperate 3-point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out, and WCU punched the rebound away to waste the clock. Walker's layup with 1:15 left in regulation tied the score at 77-apiece and set the game into overtime.
 
Mingledough poured in 15 points off the bench as West Chester's top two scorers Wednesday night were not in the starting lineup. Cory Blake registerd 14 points, in addition to Givens' 13.
 
Wali Hepburn led all scorers with 23 points for Lock Haven. Kasheef Festus recorded 22 points.
 
The score was tied 14 times in the game while there were 19 lead changes in the see-saw battle of new PSAC East rivals. The game was tied at 40 at halftime and tied at 77 after regulation. West Chester outscored Lock Haven, 10-7, in the OT.
 
West Chester hosts Shippensburg on Saturday inside Hollinger Field House. It will be Senior Day for the Golden Rams as the men's basketball program bids farewell to six seniors playing their final regular season home game. Tip is set for 3 p.m.