West Chester 13-0 For First Time Ever After 91-72 Win At Edinboro

EDINBORO, Pa. - No. 10-ranked West Chester University men's basketball has dominated the opening half of its 2019-20 schedule, winning the first 13 games of a season for the first time in team history.
 
The Golden Rams (13-0 overall, 7-0 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) defeated Edinboro University, 91-72, on Monday night to remain as one of two undefeated teams in Division II this season. Led by 12th-year head coach Damien Blair, the Golden Rams are the only team undefeated in PSAC play and one of nine undefeated teams across all three levels of NCAA men's basketball.
 
West Chester was named a Top 10 team in the country for just the fourth week in program history on December 31, and it received the No. 1 ranking in D2SIDA's Atlantic Region poll on Sunday.
 
Senior guard Malik Jackson (Lansdowne, Pa. / Penn Wood) led the Golden Rams with 27 points in Monday's win, making 6-of-13 three-point attempts with no turnovers. Freshman Robbie Heath (Whittlesea, Australia / Abington) contributed with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
 
Jackson and Heath have been the one-two punch for West Chester this season, leading the team in minutes played by a wide margin at over 32 per game. Heath leads the PSAC and all Division II freshmen at 24.3 points per game. He's also averaging a team-high 7.9 rebounds per contest. Jackson has moved up seven spots to No. 7 on West Chester's all-time scoring list with 1,572 points. He's second on the team at 18.8 points per game this season.
 
One of the deepest teams in the country, nine West Chester players are checking in for at least 11 minutes per game. Sophomore Josh Samec (Trecksow, Pa. / Hazleton), a two-time PSAC Defensive Player of the Week this season, is third on the team in minutes played at 26.5 per game. He has four double-doubles this season. The 6-foot-7 guard/forward scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds at Edinboro. He leads the team with 27 threes made this season, making them at an astounding rate of 45 percent. He's also atop the West Chester statistics by a lot with a 52.5 field-goal percentage.

West Chester jumped out to a 47-21 lead in the first 14 minutes of the win at Edinboro and never let the game get particularly close again. The Golden Rams are beating opponents by 13.6 points on average this season.

For its next game, WCU hosts Shippensburg University at Hollinger Field House on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Raiders are 10-3 overall and 6-1 in the PSAC this season. The 13-game win streak ties the second longest in team history, done in 2002-03. The longest is 15, and that record was set in the middle of last season.