WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester men's basketball team (8-5, 3-5 PSAC) returned to action on Wednesday evening vs Millersville (12-4, 6-4 PSAC) looking to erase the memory of a heartbreaking 94-92 loss at the hands of Kutztown on Monday evening. West Chester fell behind early, being outscored 8-0 over the first five minutes of the game but stormed back and eventually retook the lead before falling to the visiting Marauders in the closing seconds by a final of 73-72.
After trailing by as many as 14 in the first half and being held scoreless for the first five minutes of the contest, West Chester closed the first half out by outscoring its guests 17-11 to trail by just 10 points (38-28) heading into the halftime break.
In the first half, West Chester struggled mightily from the field, shooting just 25.0 % from the floor and just 27.3 % from deep through the first 20 minutes of basketball.
In the second half, West Chester turned the tide, opening the half with a big run, which included a 16-0 run to erase the first half deficit and retake the lead, leading by as many as seven at the end of 16-0 run. With a 53-46 lead following a made jumper by
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption), West Chester went cold over the next two minutes, allowing Millersville to climb back into the game, with a quick 6-0 run to trail by just one (53-52) with just over 10 minutes to play in regulation.
The following 10 minutes, provided the battle that might be expected between two rivals who have met over 200 times dating back to the 1903-04 season, as the two sides traded makes and runs approaching the final whistle. West Chester took its final lead of the contest with 55 seconds to play when
Dame Wall (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution) rattled home a pair of free throws to make the score 72-71 in favor of the Purple and Gold but Millersville was able to answer back, splitting a pair of trips to the line to claim a 73-72 lead late in the contest. As the final seconds ticked away, McGee took a last second-shot from the corner in front of the Golden Ram bench but the shot fell off as Millersville escaped Hollinger Field House with a narrow one-point victory.
The Marauders narrow triumph inside the confines of Hollinger in exactly nine years with their last triumph coming on January 19
th 2013 by a 68-64 final.
McGee ended the day as the Golden Rams leading scorer with 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting as one of five Golden Rams in double figures, marking the third game in a row and fourth time in the last five games in which the Golden Rams have had five players score in double figures.
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) chipped in 12 points while
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover), Jamil Manigo (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) and Wall all added 10 points of their own in the narrow setback.
West Chester ended the game with a 36.2 % field-goal percentage and a 29.2 % three-point shooting percentage thanks in large part to a much-improved second half shooting performance, which saw the Golden Rams shoot 45.9 % from the field and 30.8 % from three. West Chester was nearly perfect from the line in the setback, going an impressive 15-for-16 (93.8 %) from the stripe on Wednesday evening.
For Millersville, the Marauders had a much more earthly shooting percentage on Wednesday night following their historic performance over the weekend, shooting 43.1 % from the field and 25.0 % from three-point range, including an 0-for-3 effort in the second half. The Marauders continued to struggle from the line, making just 19-of-29 free throws (65.5 %) on the night.
Despite early foul trouble, James Sullivan still managed to lead all scorers with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting while Khari Williams added 17 of his own in the victory.
West Chester ended the game with a narrow +1 (42-41) edge on the glass thanks in large part to a 14-10 advantage on the offensive glass. Of course, an advantage on the offensive glass is hardly a new phenomenon for the Golden Rams this season, as the Purple and Gold lead all of Division II men's basketball in offensive rebounding, averaging 17.58 offensive rebounds per contest. As he has on two separate occasions already this season, Manigo led the team in rebounding with nine rebounds on the night, with one offensive board and nine defensive rebounds in the setback.
Despite the setback, West Chester did end the game with a 16-11 edge in points off turnovers along with a 16-14 edge in second-chance points, a 12-10 advantage in points off the break. Additionally, West Chester ended the game with a 25-13 edge in points off the bench, as the Golden Rams second unit has still yet to be outscored in a game this season.
West Chester will have another quick turnaround as the Golden Rams continue a grueling stretch of basketball with a visit to Bloomsburg on Saturday afternoon beginning at 3 p.m. before traveling to East Stroudsburg on Monday evening for its second road game in three days. West Chester will return home next Wednesday evening for a visit with Lock Haven, who entered play just behind West Chester in the league standings, boasting a record of 6-7 overall and 3-6 in league play entering play this evening.
