Men's Basketball Loses At Lock Haven, 86-85

Box Score

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – West Chester dropped a tightly contested game to host Lock Haven, 86-85, in a PSAC East men's basketball showdown inside Thomas Field House, 86-85.
 
West Chester (12-13, 10-10 PSAC) remains in a tie for fourth place with Bloomsburg, which lost at East Stroudsburg on Saturday. They are two games up on sixth-place Lock Haven (12-12, 8-12) with two games to play. The Eagles' win over the Golden Rams completed a season sweep and would give Lock Haven the edge in a tie-breaker scenario with West Chester.
 
With 1:40 left in the game, the score was even when Lock Haven's Tarojae Brake drained a 3-pointer.  West Chester was unable to overcome within the final seconds. Malik Jackson (Lansdowne, Pa./Penn Wood) hit a pair of free throws with 41 ticks left that pulled the visitors within one. But, the hosts were able to maintain that slimmest of margins and ride out the win.
 
Unfortunately, the Golden Rams went 3:21 in-between free throws from Jackson down the stretch that proved to be the difference in the game. That dry spell enabled the Eagles to erase a 10-point deficit in the final four minutes of the game.
 
West Chester had trouble finding its range early as Lock Haven produced a 10-0 run within the first three minutes of the contest. Even though the Golden Rams found themselves down by as much as 15 points in the first half, West Chester closed the deficit. Sophomore guard Matt Penecale (Jenkintown, Pa./Abington) hit a 3-pointer in the first half that gave the Golden Rams the lead. But, Lock Haven was able to rebound and even the score by halftime, 44-44.
 
Three players found themselves in double figures for the evening as freshman guard Zach Bare (Reisterstown, Md./St. Paul's School) produced a team-high 18 points and three assists coming off the bench. Fellow guard Jackson also earned 13 points, two assists and a pair of steals coming off the bench for the Golden Rams.
 
Sophomore forward Jackson Hyland (Avondale, Pa./Kennett) started for West Chester as he finished the evening with 17 points, three assists and a pair of steals.
 
Head coach Damien Blair's squad shot 41.1 percent from the field (30-for-73) while having a difficult night from behind the arc at 26.9 percent (7- for- 26). West Chester produced 46 points from the bench, but it was not enough to overcome the Bald Eagles down the stretch.
 
West Chester hits the road on Wednesday for a PSAC East matchup at Millersville inside Pucillo Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.