LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa.- On the heels of its first OT game and victory since the 2019 season, the West Chester men's basketball team (2-0) returned to action on short rest vs Elizabeth City State (ECSU) (1-1) on Saturday afternoon. West Chester led for much of the game, trailing for just 50 seconds of game action, en route to a 93-83 victory over the Vikings to improve to 2-0 on the year and sweep the CIAA/PSAC Challenge for the third season in a row.
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa,/Bishop McDevitt) led all scorers once again, finishing with 24 points as the highest of three Golden Rams in double figures on Saturday night.
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) who nearly played the role of hero on Friday night, had another solid outing on Saturday, finishing with 22 points while Friday night's hero
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) finished with 17 points of his own.
As a team, West Chester shot a much improved 59.6 % (31-of-52) from the field, including a 52.9 % (9-of-17) effort from beyond the arc while also shooting 78.6 % (22-of-28) from the stripe in the victory.
For Elizabeth City State, the Vikings shot 52.5 % (32-of-61) from the field while also shooting 38.5 % (5-of-13) from deep and 66.7 % (14-for-21) from the line. Jaden Flournoy and Tre Richardson tied for the team lead in scoring with 19 points each while Eric Butler chipped in 14 points of his own in the loss.
West Chester, who led by as many as 13 (90-77) late in the game, got out to an early lead in the first half of play, surging out to an 20-12 lead with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half.
As the game approached halftime, ECSU mounted a comeback, pulling to within a basket multiple times as the half progressed before a successful trip to the charity stripe by McGee and a made three by McGee shortly before the halftime buzzer gave the Golden Rams a 42-37 lead heading into the break.
Out of the halftime break, ECSU continued its hot streak, scoring 16 of the first 26 points of the half to retake the lead at 53-52, however, this lead was short lived as West Chester answered back quickly with a four-point run thanks to a made three by Allen and a made free throw by McGee to retake a 56-53 lead. ECSU countered quickly with a three of its own to tie the game at 56-56 with 15:24 to play in regulation but a 7-0 run by West Chester thanks in part to four points from
Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski Area) gave WCU a 63-56 lead it would not relinquish in the 10-point victory.
ECSU hung around late, cutting the lead to just one (68-67) with just under eight minutes to play in the game but West Chester did not allow the Vikings to complete the comeback as the team was able to pull away once more just moments later to improve to 2-0 on the year.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action on Wednesday night in its home opener vs another CIAA foe in Virginia State inside Hollinger Field House beginning at 7 p.m. Of note, Wednesday night's game vs VSU, will be the Golden Rams first game against the Trojans under the tutelage of head coach
Damien Blair.
