WEST CHESTER, Pa.-Looking to bounce back from a hard-fought road loss at East Stroudsburg on Monday evening, West Chester (10-6, 5-6 PSAC) returned home to host Lock Haven (9-6, 7-4 PSAC) on Wednesday evening. West Chester got out to an early first half lead, leading by as many as 16 in the opening half en route to the 93-82 victory over the Bald Eagles.
In the first half, West Chester and Lock Haven traded makes early but it was the Golden Rams who took the largest lead of the half, leading by as many as 16 with 8:19 to play in the opening period. Lock Haven countered with a quick 9-0 run to cut into the deficit, trimming the lead to as few as six with 5:49 to play.
In the final 5:49 of the first half, West Chester outscored its guests 14-9 to carry a 54-43 lead into the halftime break.
In the first 20 minutes,
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting including a perfect 3-for-3 effort from beyond the arc to help the Golden Rams out to the halftime lead.
In the first three and a half minutes of the second half, West Chester extended its lead to 20 points, outscoring its guests 13-4 thanks in part to four points from
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) and three points from
Josh Samec (Tresckow, Pa./Hazleton Area) to help lead the run and allow West Chester to take its largest lead of the game to that point.
West Chester maintained this lead and eventually stretched it to 21 points with 14:25 to play in regulation before Lock Haven began to chip away at the deficit, eventually trimming the lead down to as few as nine points in the closing seconds but West Chester was able to hold on for a 93-82 victory over the Bald Eagles.
Allen ended the game as the Golden Rams leading scorer with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting while Smith finished with 17 and
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) added 11 of his own on 3-of-5 shooting while going 5-for-6 from the line to help West Chester hold on for the victory. Dade, who was named to the Philadelphia Small College Basketball Association Honor Roll earlier in the day, also finished with a game-high eight rebounds, including seven on the defensive glass.
Dame Wall (Philadelphia, Pa./Constitution) ended the game with a game-high eight rebounds while
Moro Osumanu (Reading, Pa./Reading) finished with a team-high two steals in the victory.
For Lock Haven, Eli Washington led the Bald Eagles in scoring as one of five players in double figures with a game-high 22 while Jesse McPherson followed him with a 14-point effort on 6-of-15 shooting from the field.
As a team, West Chester outshot its guests from the field and three-point range, shooting 52.4 % from field-goal range and 68.4 % from deep compared to the 49.2 % field-goal shooting and 35.0 % three-point shooting effort from Lock Haven.
West Chester ended the contest with a slim 33-32 advantage on the offensive glass thanks in large part to a 24-21 lead in defensive rebounding. Despite the loss, Lock Haven accomplished a task that few other teams had been able to do this season, outrebounding the Golden Rams on the offensive glass by an 11-9 margin.
Lock Haven did end the game with a slim 42-32 edge in points in the paint, but West Chester was able to end the game with a 24-14 advantage in fast break points and a 35-9 advantage in points off the bench as the Golden Rams second unit continues to be a strong point as the final month of the season draws near.
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at Mansfield with that contest set to begin at 3 p.m.
