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WEEKEND INFORMATION
Opponent: Mercyhurst University
Date: Saturday, December 9, 2017
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Hollinger Field House - 150 University Ave, West Chester, Pa. 19383
Live Audio:Â
http://wche1520.com/
Live Video:Â
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/wcupa/
Live Stats:Â
http://www.sidearmstats.com/wcupa/mbball/
BREAKDOWN
SCOUTING WEST CHESTER
Head Coach: Damien Blair
Conference: Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)
Overall Record: 7-0
Conference Record: 4-0
Streak: W7
Team Page:
 http://www.wcupagoldenrams.com/index.aspx?path=mbball
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Flock Talk
Riding a seven-game winning streak to start the 2017-18 campaign, the West Chester men's basketball team takes an unblemished record into its game versus Mercyhurst University at home on Saturday.  Saturday's contest marks the third home game in a row for the Golden Rams, as the team faced off against PSAC West opponents Indiana University of Pennsylvania last Saturday before squaring off against Seton Hill University to cap off the weekend at Hollinger. Against the Crimson Hawks, guards
Tyrell Long (Philadelphia, Pa. / Bishop McDevitt)Â and
Jackson Hyland (Avondale, Pa. / Kennett) put on quite the show – combining for 52 points (17-of-27) and 16 rebounds to help propel West Chester past a tough IUP team 93-78 to start the weekend. The dynamic duo continued to impress in Sunday's outing, as Long went for 20 points and nine boards while Hyland poured in 19 points to push the home team past the Griffins 88-75 to move Head Coach Damien Blair's squad to 7-0 on the year and 4-0 in conference action. Sitting tied atop the PSAC East standings with East Stroudsburg University, the Golden Rams received votes in this week's D2SIDA Top 25 Men's Basketball Poll for the first time this year and its 26 total votes in this week's edition puts West Chester outside the national top 25 by just six total votes.
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Roster Check
Long's 21.3 points per game are tops for the Golden Rams through seven games and puts the senior at No. 7 in the conference heading into Saturday. Playing the eighth-most minutes of any player in the league at 35.3/game, Long appears inside the top 10 of the PSAC in both rebounding (7.9/game) and field goal percentage (58.9%), while ranking second on the Golden Rams in assists (3.0/game) and total steals (10). The Philadelphia product has been on a tear over the last four games, putting up an average of 26 points/game along with 9.2 assists/game on 54% shooting from the field dating back to West Chester's game at Clarion University on November 19.
A look at the rest of the roster shows Hyland putting up 18.7 points per game to sit in second on the team, while
Matt Penecale (Jenkintown, Pa. / Abington)Â is pacing the West Chester offense with 3.6 helpers per outing to go along with 9.9 points/game.
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Team Stats and All That
West Chester returns to Hollinger Field House touting one of the best defensive units in the entire conference. The Golden Rams 0.392 field goal percentage defense (13th in NCAA DII) puts the team at No. 2 in the PSAC and its 65.1 points/game scoring defense places the team in third out of 18 eligible programs. Coach Blair's team is holding opponents to just .296 shooting from beyond the arc (No. 3 PSAC) and the team's +14.1 offense/defense margin is second best in the league behind East Stroudsburg's +23.9 mark. West Chester comes into Saturday's game against the Lakers looking to avenge a 72-69 defeat in Erie last season in a game that saw the home team outscore the Golden Rams 6-3 down the stretch to give Mercyhurst the three-point victory at home.
SCOUTING MERCYHURST
Head Coach: Gary Manchel
Conference: Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)
Overall Record: 4-3
Conference Record: 2-2
Streak: L2
Team Page:Â
http://www.hurstathletics.com/index.aspx?path=mbball
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Lake Take
Mercyhurst University comes into Saturday's outing in West Chester carrying a 4-3 overall record (2-2 PSAC) and having lost its last two-straight games. Last time out, the Lakers dropped a 64-55 decision on the road at Mansfield University after shooting just 37% (22-of-59) from the field and connecting on just 1-of-4 shots from the free throw line. Malcolm Walters led the Lakers with 15 points in the loss, while Lorenzo Collier chipped in 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting in 27 minutes played.
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Roster Check
Collier's 15.6 points/game and 109 total points are tops on the Lakers through seven games and his 10 total steals per outing puts the senior tied for the team lead. Collier has only missed four foul shots this entire season to give him on of the best free throw percentages in the conference at 86% (24-of-28). Â The Detroit product has scored in double figures in every game but one this season, highlighted by two 21-point performances to start the year.
Playing in 25.7 minutes per game, Walters ranks second on the Lakers at 12.7 points/game and he joins Collier as the only members on Mercyhurst to average double digits in scoring through the first seven games. Junior forward Patrick Smith's is tops on the team and ranks amongst the league leaders with 7.9 rebounds/game and he currently sits at No. 3 in scoring on the team with 8.3 points per outing.
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Team Stats and All That
Although the team scores just 68.9 points per game (No. 16 in PSAC), the Lakers more than make up for it on the defensive end of the ball. Holding its opponents to 60.4 points/game, Mercyhurst leads the conference and ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense ahead of its game on Saturday. The Lakers are keeping its opponents to a .411 shooting clip (No. 3 PSAC) overall and its .299 opponent three-point shooting percentage is one of the lowest in the conference (No. 4 PSAC).
Coach Blair on Mercyhurst
Gary (Manchel) does a great job of keeping teams off balanced ... they play a little triangle and-2 and in the past they switched a lot on screens. We are obviously going to try and push the ball a little bit but we really need to do a good job executing on the offensive end if we want to score. "
