GREENSBURG, Pa.- Freshman guard
Cam Polak (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) had a career-night, ending with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting including a 4-for-7 effort from beyond the arc, and the West Chester men's basketball team (6-2, 1-2 PSAC) never trailed en route to its first PSAC victory of the season over Seton Hill (0-8, 0-3 PSAC) by a 95-82 final.
Polak was one of six Golden Rams in double figures as fellow newcomer
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) ended with 17 while
Josh Samec (Tresckow, Pa./Hazleton Area) had 13, McGee had 12,
Dame Wall (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution) had 11 and
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) registered a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
West Chester shot impressively well on Tuesday night, ending the evening shooting 50.0 % from the field and from three-point range thanks in part to an impressive first half, which saw the team shoot 60.0 % (18-of-30) from the field and 55.6 (5-for-9) from beyond the arc to build up an early lead.
West Chester and Seton Hill traded points through the early going, as the score was even at 9-9 with 16:26 to play in the first half. This would be the final time that the score would be tied, however, as the Golden Rams went on a 6-2 run over the next two minutes of play, thanks in large part to back-to-back baskets by
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) to take a 15-11 lead. Seton Hill countered with a quick 6-2 run of its own over the next two minutes to cut the Golden Ram lead to just one (17-16) with 12:47 to play in the opening half, but the Golden Rams answered with an 11-0 run, led by six points from Polak to take a 28-16 with 10:11 to play until the halftime break.
Following this run, West Chester and Seton Hill both went cold for a brief, two-minute stretch before Seton Hill scored its first points since 12:47 remained in the half, from the charity stripe to make the score 28-18 with eight minutes to play until the halftime break. Over the final 8:09 of the first half, West Chester and Seton Hill traded scores, but the mid-half run was enough to allow the Golden Rams to carry a 44-33 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, West Chester opened the proceedings with a 12-6 run, which spanned the first four and a half minutes of the frame to extend its lead to 56-39 with 15:21 to play. The next five minutes of play told a similar tale for the Golden Rams, as the Purple and Gold outscored their hosts 10-6 to hold a 66-45 advantage with just 10 minutes remaining in the contest. Over the final 10 minutes of play, West Chester maintained its advantage over Seton Hill and stretched its lead to as many as 21, cruising to the 95-82 victory.
For Seton Hill, the Griffins found themselves in a hole early and struggled to come back from it, despite a 19-point effort from Samuel Tabe and 18 points from Jimmy Moon. Tabe and Moon combined to shoot just over 50 % from the field on the night, going a combined 13-for-24 from the floor while the team shot just 40.3 % (29-for-72) in the setback.
As it has for much of the season, West Chester ended the game with a +6 (44-38) advantage in rebounding, behind the 11 rebound effort from Barrett. West Chester also got a strong effort out of its bench this afternoon, outscoring the Griffins second unit by a 40-25 margin while also ending the game with a 14-10 advantage in points off turnovers (despite losing the turnover battle 14-11), and a 20-19 edge in second-chance points.
West Chester will look to continue its momentum from this victory this weekend when the Purple and Gold return to the Pittsburgh Area to face Cal (Pa.), and Slippery Rock with each of those games beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
