Men's Basketball Hosting Messikomer Tip-Off Tournament Friday And Saturday

WEST CHESTER, Pa. - West Chester men's basketball begins its season on Friday and Saturday with two games in the Messikomer Tip-Off Tournament at Hollinger Field House. The Golden Rams, playing at 7:30 p.m. both nights, will face Claflin University and Lincoln University.
 
Kutztown University will play the same aforementioned opponents at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, but the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference rivals WCU and KU will not face one another.
 
This is the first season-opening tournament West Chester men's basketball is hosting during Damien Blair's 13 years as head coach of the team. He will be honored prior to Saturday's contest for becoming the second coach to reach 200 wins while leading the Golden Rams. He sits at 203 wins currently.
 
The Golden Rams were 22-9 last season while the Golden Bears of Kutztown were 16-14, the Lions of Lincoln were 14-15, and the Panthers of Claflin were 13-14. The Lions and Panthers compete in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 
West Chester, coming off of a 70-63 loss at Division I La Salle on Saturday, went 16-4 in PSAC play last season. The team's 2018-19 season came to close with a 74-65 loss to Indiana (Pa.) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Rams have made an NCAA Tournament appearance in four of the last six seasons.
 
WCU has won at least 16 PSAC regular season games in three of the last four seasons, and the men last reached the PSAC Championship Game in 2015-16. At that point, the Golden Rams had reached the championship three times in five years.
 
Senior guard Malik Jackson (Lansdowne, Pa. / Penn Wood) is 14th on West Chester's all-time scoring list and second in three pointers. With 400 points, Jackson can climb to fourth all-time. He needs 93 threes to surpass his coach, Damien Blair, for the school record.
 
Freshman guard Robbie Heath (Whittlesea, Australia / Abington High School) led all Golden Rams scorers in their exhibition against the Explorers with 16 points. Sophomore transfer from George Washington University Marcus Littles (Philadelphia / Neumann Goretti) led all rebounders in the game with nine.
 
West Chester has two more home contests to open the season following the Messikomer Tip-Off Tournament. The Golden Rams face Holy Family University and Goldey-Beacom College at Hollinger Field House on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. and Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. WCU's first PSAC game is at Gannon on Nov. 23 at 3 p.m. The team's first PSAC home game is against Mercyhurst on Dec. 7 at 3 p.m.