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WEST CHESTER, Pa. - The No. 2-seeded and No. 24 West Chester University men's basketball team opened up play at the 2018 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship on Wednesday night, welcoming the third seed Shippensburg University to the Hollinger Field House for a PSAC Quarterfinals showdown.
Wednesday's meeting marked the second between these two programs in the last seven days, as the Golden Rams closed out their regular season with 78-59 victory on the Raiders last Wednesday– in a game a where WCU held Shippensburg to its lowest field-goal percentage (29%) in its last 117 total games.
Despite shooting over 90% (.926 | 25-of-27) from the charity stripe for just the third time this season, the Golden Rams were unable to combat for a season-low 17% clip (4-of-23) from beyond the arc and eventually fell 87-79 to the Raiders on Wednesday evening.
Wednesday's defeat drops West Chester to 21-6 overall and halts the Golden Rams' postseason run in the PSAC Quarterfinals for the second time in the last three seasons. Conversely, defending PSAC Champion Shippensburg jumps to 23-6 on the year with the victory and Wednesday's triumph snaps a nine-game losing streak for the Raiders at the Hollinger Field House. Shippensburg advances to the PSAC Semifinals where it will face Gannon on Saturday, while WCU will have to wait for Sunday's NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Selection Show to see if its season continues.
The Golden Rams started the game up 7-2 following a jumper by
Tyrell Long (Philadelphia, Pa. / Bishop McDevitt), before the Raiders answered back with a 10-2 run to grab the 12-9 advantage with 13:30 to play in the opening frame. Both team exchanged the lead over the next handful of minutes, until a jumper by
Jackson Hyland (Avondale, Pa. / Kennett) put the home team up four (23-19) with just over six minutes remaining. Back-to-back Shippensburg triples on the next two possessions gave the Raiders the lead back (25-25) with 5:41 to play and the visitors did not relinquish the advantage for the remainder of the half – taking a 37-29 cushion into the locker rooms.
Trailing by nine points (40-31) to start the second, the Golden Rams strung together six-unanswered points to hack the Raiders' advantage to just four (40-36) with 17:35 left on the clock. Despite the West Chester charge, Shippensburg was able to maintain its lead and eventually stretched the cushion to as many as 14 points (58-44) with just over 12 minutes to play in regulation. With SU on top 73-64, a three-pointer by
Evan-Eric Longino (Furlong, Pa. / Germantown Academy) paired with a jumper from Hyland inched West Chester within four (73-69) with two minutes to go. Four points would as close as the Golden Rams would get for the remainder of the second half, however, as Shippensburg was able to extend its lead to 10 points on four separate occasions in the final two minutes before eventually claiming the 87-79 victory on Wednesday night.
West Chester connected on 36.8% (25-of-68) of its shots from the floor but struggled to just 4-of-23 (17%) shooting from beyond the arc on Wednesday. The Golden Rams held a plus-11 rebounding margin (43-32) over the Raiders in the loss, while outscoring the visitors 19-4 in second chance points.
Long paced West Chester with 23 points (8-of-16) on Wednesday, while Hyland added 22 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the loss. Longino chipped in1 3 points against the Raiders and
Frank Rokins (Plainfield, N.J. / St. Mary's) (11) and
Matt Penecale (Jenkintown, Pa. / Abington) (10) combined for West Chester's other 21 points in Wednesday's contest.
Dustin Sleva dropped in a game-high 24 points for Shippensburg, while Antonio Kellem added 21 points and five rebounds in the winning effort.
