Jackson Climbs WCU Scoring Ranks, Golden Rams Take Loss At Shippensburg

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - West Chester University men's basketball fell at Shippensburg University, 83-58, in a battle of two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division teams on Wednesday night.
 
Senior guard Malik Jackson (Lansdowne, Pa. / Penn Wood) moved into fifth on the West Chester men's basketball all-time scoring list with a team-high 21 against the Raiders. Jackson, who passed 1999 graduate Donta Evans, is up to 1,679 career points. He's 32 behind 1983 graduate Rick Gilliam for fourth.
 
The Golden Rams (15-7 overall, 9-7 PSAC) were in Wednesday's game for the entire first half as a good free throw by freshman guard Robbie Heath (Whittlesea, Australia / Abington) sent them into the locker room down 39-34. Nonetheless, the Raiders (18-4, 14-2) went on a 14-2 run early in the second half to break the game open.
 
Jackson's 21 points came on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 makes from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Heath added 13 points while WCU junior forward Terrell Jones (Ardmore, Pa. / Lower Merion) had a season-high 10 to go along with a team-high five rebounds.
 
Shippensburg has a stronghold on first place in the PSAC East while the Golden Rams are in a battle for second with several teams.
 
West Chester has six games remaining on its regular season schedule. The next one is at Shepherd University next Wednesday, February 12 at 7:30 p.m. West Chester beat Shepherd 84-77 at Hollinger Field House when the teams met on January 3. Shepherd is 9-12 overall and 5-10 in PSAC play.
 
The Golden Rams are back in Hollinger on Saturday, February 15 at 4 p.m. to take on Bloomsburg University. The Golden Rams lost to the Huskies (8-14, 5-11) 102-89 in Bloomsburg on January 25.