WEST CHESTER, Pa. - No. 10-ranked West Chester University men's basketball is 12-0 to start the 2019-20 season, tying the best start to a season in team history.
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The Golden Rams (12-0 overall, 6-0 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) defeated Shepherd University (6-6, 2-4), 84-77, on Friday night at Hollinger Field House in a game that was never separated by more than nine points. It was the first PSAC East matchup of the season for both teams.
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The Golden Rams and Rams traded leads many times in the first half of Friday's game, but a good layup by freshman
Robbie Heath (Whittlesea, Australia / Abington) put West Chester ahead 41-37 going into halftime.
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Tied at 73 with 2:07 remaining in regulation, Heath drained a three, junior
Antoine Lewis (New Rochelle, N.Y. / New Rochelle) made a free throw, and Heath made two free throws to put the Golden Rams ahead by six with 32 seconds left. The Golden Rams never looked back after that.
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Heath finished with a game-high 24 points, and senior
Malik Jackson (Lansdowne, Pa. / Penn Wood) had 21. Heath remains atop the conference at 25 points per game, and Jackson is second on the team at 18.2.
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Sophomore
Josh Samec (Trecksow, Pa. / Hazleton) went 3-for-5 from three and posted his team-best fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
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The Golden Rams are the only team undefeated in PSAC play this season, and they're one of two undefeated teams in all of Division II. The other is Bellarmine University, ranked No. 1 in the country out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. A win on Monday would tie West Chester for the second longest win streak in team history. The longest was 15, and that happened in the middle of last season.
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West Chester will have a chance to break the record set in 2017-18 for best start in team history when it hits the road for the first time since November 30 to play Edinboro University on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Edinboro is 6-6 overall and 2-4 as a member of the PSAC West Division.
