West Chester Pulls Away From Bloomfield Late, 73-62

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Avery Brown (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead host West Chester to a 73-62 non-league men's basketball victory over visiting Bloomfield Saturday afternoon inside Hollinger Field House.
 
West Chester (9-1) won its second straight while Bloomfield (3-6) saw its three-game winning streak come to a close. The Golden Rams have won 9 of 10 to open up the season.
 
West Chester ended the game on a 20-7 run over the final 5:51 of the contest to erase a two-point deficit and pull away late. Bloomfield hit a 3-point field goal to take a 53-49 lead, but did not sink another shot from the field the rest of the game. The visiting Bears held their largest lead of the game (6 points) with 7:57 remaining when the Golden Rams began their final push.
 
A layup from Matt Penecale (Jenkintown, Pa./Abington), a breakaway dunk by Tyrell Long (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt), a 3-pointer from Mike Wilson (Philadelphia, Pa./Martin Luther King) and another breakaway dunk by Penecale fueld a 9-0 run that gave the Rams the lead for good at 58-55 with 5:22 left.
 
Three Golden Rams finished in double figures with Wilson and Malik Jackson (Lansdowne, Pa./Penn Wood) each contributing 12 points in support of Brown's team-high 13. Matt Wiseley (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) finished with 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals, showing he can do more than just score points.
 
West Chester shot 45 percent from the field (27 of 60), including 11-for-25 (44 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc. All 12 of Wilson's points came from 3-point land, including a half-court shot that beat the halftime buzzer and hit nothing but net.
 
Bloomfield made just 17 field goals in the game (17-for-49), but stayed in the game at the foul line, making 23 of 34 attempts. The Bears' 49 field goal attempts and 34.7 percentage from the field were both season lows for an opponent of the Golden Rams this winter.

West Chester's win, coupled with Kutztown's loss on the road at Shippensburg (78-70) gives the Golden Rams sole possession of first place in the PSAC Eastern Division standings. Saturday saw a full slate of league contests throughout the PSAC while West Chester enjoyed its bye weekend with a non-league victory.
 
West Chester returns home after the holiday break to take on Wilmington (Del.) inside Hollinger Field House on Thursday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m.