MANSFIELD, Pa.- After a bounce back victory over Lock Haven on Wednesday evening, the West Chester men's basketball team (10-6, 5-6 PSAC) will look to extend its winning streak to two games in a row with a visit to Mansfield (2-17, 1-12 PSAC) on Saturday afternoon with opening tip in that game set for 3 p.m. This game will be the second game of a doubleheader between the Golden Rams and Mountaineers inside Marion Decker Gymnasium as the West Chester women's basketball team will face Mansfield on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.
Fan Information
Mansfield University Athletics is pleased to continue to welcome spectators to all home intercollegiate athletic contests.
As a reminder, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask when attending any indoor athletic contests inside Decker Gymnasium. Masking by all spectators in attendance creates the safest possible atmosphere for the student-athletes, coaches, staff, team representatives, officials, and all other spectators.
Series Information
West Chester and Mansfield have extensive history with one another, which can be traced back as far as the 1950s. West Chester holds a 56-33 lead in the all-time series and has gone 22-3 under current head coach
Damien Blair. West Chester won just seven of the first 22 meetings between the two teams to start the history but has fared considerably better since, going 48-18 since. The Golden Rams are currently riding an eight-game winning streak in the series with their longest winning streak being 12 games stretching from the 2011 season through the 2016 season.
In the first meeting against Mansfield earlier this season, West Chester returned to action for its first game in 26 days and showed some signs of rust throughout the game, shooting just over 41.0 % percent from the field and just 28.0 % from three-point range to earn a narrow PSAC East victory over Mansfield. West Chester trailed for much of the game, but a late run, capped off by big free throws from freshman guard
Cam Polak was enough to allow West Chester to earn a 99-97 victory and avoid the upset. Despite the poor shooting statistics as a team, West Chester still had five players score in double figures, marking the third time this season that five or more players have scored in double figures led by a 21-point effort from freshman guard
Robert Smith.
Elijah Allen also turned in a stellar Golden Ram debut, scoring 15 points while coming away with eight rebounds and five assists in the comeback victory.
Flock Talk
West Chester returned to action on Wednesday evening following a road loss at the hands of East Stroudsburg on Monday evening by a final of 73-69. On Wednesday night, the Golden Rams took the floor against the Bald Eagles of Lock Haven, determined to not fall victim to late game heroics as they had multiple times over the previous few weeks. West Chester trailed only briefly in this contest, trailing by just two points in the early stages of the first half before rattling off a 12-2 run to erase the early deficit and take a lead they would never relinquish. After carrying an 11-point (54-43) lead into the halftime break, West Chester extended its lead to as many as 21 points just over five minutes into the second half to take a strangle hold on the contest. Lock Haven would not be denied as the Bald Eagles stormed back, trimming the deficit to just nine points in the waning moments but West Chester held on a for a 93-82 victory over its rivals.
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) led four Golden Rams in double figures with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting while
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) added 17 of his won on 7-of-10 shooting.
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) and
Cam Polak (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) each turned in very efficient outings to reach double figures, going 3-of-5 from the field and 4-of-6 (4-for-5 from three) to finish with 11 and 12 points, respectively. As a team, West Chester turned in one of its best three-point shooting efforts in recent memory, shooting 68.4 % from deep and 52.4 % from field-goal range.
Allen has been a great addition to the Golden Rams since playing his first game against the same Mansfield Mountaineers back on January 15
th. Through his first six games as a Golden Ram, Allen has scored in double figures in five of six games and is averaging 13.2 points per game, including a career-high 23 point effort in the victory at Bloomsburg last Saturday. Since Allen played his first game as a Golden Ram two weeks ago, West Chester has had at least three players in double figures in each of those six games, with five players scoring in double figures in each of the first three games of those six and four players with 10 or more points in two of the last three.
As a team, West Chester remains one of the more dangerous offensive units in the PSAC, the Golden Rams rank atop the league in scoring, averaging 85.6 points per game led by Smith who is first on the team and 17
th in the league in points per game, averaging 15.4 a game, speaking to the impressive depth of the Golden Ram lineup. An additional key factor for the Golden Rams this year has been their consistency from the charity stripe (which led them down the stretch in the victory over Mansfield back on 1/15) and their work from three-point territory. From the line, West Chester is shooting 76.8 % on the year, which is the best in the PSAC, .05 ahead of IUP who is second in the league in this category. From beyond the arc, West Chester is fourth best in the loop, shooting 35.6 % from range, which is also the best in the PSAC East entering the final month of the season.
Mansfield Mentions
For Mansfield, the Mounties enter play on Saturday afternoon following a victory of their own over Kutztown by a final of 75-71, which snapped a 12-game skid for the homestanding Mountaineers. In this contest, Justice Smith notched his third double-double of the year with 25 points and 10 rebounds in a game where he played the full 40 minutes. With the Mountaineers up by four heading into the halftime break, before a back and forth second half ensued. With 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Kutztown evened the score at 50-50, starting a final 10 minutes, which saw four lead changes included two in the final minute as Scott Woodring, who also finished with a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds hit a layup with 37 seconds to play to give Mansfield a lead it would never relinquish. Smith and Woodring were two of four Mountaineers in double figures as Jaz Farrell and Marcus Friend also finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively to help lead Mansfield to the victory. As a team, Mansfield turned in an impressive shooting effort, shooting 52.0 % from the field and 40.0 % from beyond the arc while also shooting 68.0 % from the line to snap its lengthy losing streak.
Justice Smith, who led the charge for Mansfield on Wednesday evening against Kutztown to halt the losing streak with his third double-double of the year, has been a consistent threat for Mansfield throughout the season, leading the team in scoring (17.3/G), rebounding (6.1/G), and assists (3.0/G) while ranking second on the team in steals with (1.7/G). As a team, Mansfield enters play averaging 77.3 points per game, shooting 42.5 % from the field but just 28.9 % from beyond the arc, which has been something of a hindrance to the team this season.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Monday evening at Shepherd with opening tip in that contest set for 7:30 p.m.
