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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - Hoping to bounce back from a 10-point loss against Shippensburg on Saturday, the No. 20 West Chester University men's basketball team headed the UPJ Sports Center on Wednesday night to square off against the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover matchup.
Despite entering Wednesday's game with one of the best defensive units in the league, the Golden Rams struggled to slow down the Mountain Cats' offensive attack inside the UPJ Sports Center. Fueled by 33 points from reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Week Isaac Vescovi, UPJ downed West Chester 102-85 on Wednesday to hand the Golden Rams their second loss in a row. The Mountain Cats' 102 points marked the most surrendered by West Chester this season and is the largest point total for a WCU opponent since January 3, 2017.
The loss drops the Golden Rams to 15-3 on the year and 11-3 in conference games. After taking its third conference loss on Wednesday night, West Chester drops from atop the PSAC Eastern Division
rankings to second behind Shippensburg who now sits at 10-2 against conference opponents.
A layup from
Frank Rokins (Plainfield, N.J. / St. Mary's) at the 16:58 mark gave West Chester an 8-7 lead in the first, a lead that the Golden Rams would not relinquish for the remainder of the opening half. Powered by a team-high 10 points from
Tyrell Long (Philadelphia, Pa. / Bishop McDevitt), the visitors pushed the advantage to as many as 13 points in the first stanza and kept a cushion of at least one point for the duration of the half. Up 46-45 late, WCU's
Jackson Hyland (Avondale, Pa. / Kennett) ended the first half by knocking down two free throws to put the visitors on top 48-45 heading into the locker rooms.
The Golden Rams held a slim 52-50 advantage to start the second half, but UPJ would quickly retake the lead back and begin to put the game out of reach over the next few minutes. Although West Chester did manage to get the score within six points on two separate occasions, the Mountain Cats eventually extended its lead to 20 points (101-81) with just over two minutes remaining in regulation.
Jawan Collins (Yeadon, Pa. / Academy Park) ended the game with a layup to bring the final score to 102-85 in favor of the home team.
Hyland led the Golden Rams with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and Rokins logged a double-double with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds in the loss. Long chipped in 12 points in 32 minutes played, while
Steve Smith (Ambler, Pa. / La Salle) and
Mike Jolaoso (Philadelphia, Pa. / Episcopal Academy) each contributed nine points off the bench.
West Chester knocked down 29-of-68 (43%) of its shot from the field and 53% (7-of-13) of its attempts from beyond the arc in the loss.
Pitt-Johnstown's Isaac Vescovi paced all players with 33 points on Wednesday, while Dale Clancy put up 19 points and a game-high 12 assists in the winning effort.
