EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Freshman phenom
Robbie Heath (Whittlesea, Australia/Abington [PA]) scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds, but it was not enough to overcome host East Stroudsburg, 86-74, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Quarterfinal round contest inside Koehler Fieldhouse Wednesday evening.
West Chester (20-10) concludes its 2020 campaign following the second setback to East Stroudsburg (20-8) in five days. The Warriors advance to the PSAC Semifinals this coming weekend, which will be hosted by Shippensburg University Saturday and Sunday.
Heath capped his first college season with his 22nd 20-point game or better of the season. His 712 points on the year is the new single-season standard at West Chester University, ranks ninth all-time in PSAC history and is the top single-season mark in the conference for a freshman as well. Meanwhile, his 24.6 points per game average leads the PSAC and shattered a school record that had stood for 52 years. Former Golden Rams standout, Pete Chambers, held the old record of 23.7 ppg set back in 1967-68.
Host ESU led by as many as 24 points early in the second half as the Warriors harassed West Chester into 25 turnovers in the game. East Stroudsburg also got to the foul line 28 times, knocking down 21 of those attempts to keep the Golden Rams at bay.
Heath led three Golden Rams in double figures. Senior
Malik Jackson (Lansdowne, Pa./Penn Wood) finished his college career with 16 points while junior
Antoine Lewis (New Rochelle, N.Y./Allegheny) posted 13 off the bench. The curtain draws on Jackson's magnificent career in the Purple & Gold with 1,826 career points, which ranks him fourth all-time in school history. His 499 points this winter marked a personal best for the guard. Jackson hit 4 of 9 3-pointers in the game and finished his career with 303 career triples, leaving just him and his head coach,
Damien Blair, as the only Golden Rams in program history to make more than 300 3-point field goals.
East Stroudsburg's Marc Rodriguez led four scorers in double figures for the hosts with 16. He nailed a trio of threes early in the second half that helped the Warriors build that 24-point advantage, which was too much to overcome for the Golden Rams. Shamir Johnson poured in 15 off the bench as well. Michal Weiss and Mike Millsip added 12 and 10, respectively for the Warriors.
