WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Following a win over Virginia State in its home opener last week, the West Chester men's basketball team (3-1) remained home on Monday night hoping to remain unbeaten to open the season against Wilmington (2-3). West Chester battled throughout the contest, but it was an early first-half deficit, which proved to be too much to overcome as the Wildcats held on for a 91-74 victory over the Golden Rams.
Despite the setback,
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) led a trio of Golden Rams in double figures, matching his season-high with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, including a 5-for-10 effort from beyond the arc while
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) and
Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) finished with 16 and 11, respectively.
In addition to his 16 points, McGee did a solid job of facilitating the Golden Ram offense on Monday night, finishing with a team-best seven assists along with a team-high three steals while
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) came away with seven rebounds in the setback.
Wilmington raced out to an early lead in the first half, taking an 8-2 lead in the first few minutes of the contest, prompting a pair of early 30-second timeouts from the Golden Rams.
These early timeouts stemmed the tide briefly, allowing West Chester to begin fighting its way back into the contest but a 10-0 run midway through the first quarter gave Wilmington its largest lead of the game at 16 points with 10:27 to play in the opening half.
As the half got closer to its conclusion, West Chester continued to battle, going on a 9-0 run, which cut the deficit to seven (31-24) with just under seven minutes to play.
As the final minutes of the half ticked away, Wilmington continued to capitalize on its points off the break, outscoring West Chester 17-3 in this category in the first half to take a 46-33 lead into the halftime break.
West Chester shot just 38.9 % from the field and 33.3 % from deep in the opening half while its guests shot an impressive 55.9 % from the field, including multiple dunks. Three different Wildcats scored in double figures in the opening half, led by 13 points from Randy Rickards to carry a 13-point lead into the break.
Out of the halftime break, Wilmington continued to work on extending its advantage, stretching the lead to as many as 18 with 11:32 to play in the game, outscoring West Chester 21-16 through the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Wilmington eventually stretched its lead to 20 late in the second half en route to a 91-74 victory over the Golden Rams on Monday evening.
Jordan Jackson and Randy Rickards tied for the team and game lead in scoring with 23 points each while Justin Thomas added 17 of his own while Amiri Stewart chipped in 13 to help bolster the Wildcat offense.
Wilmington ended the game with a 41-34 lead in rebounding, which translated into a 14-11 edge in second chance points while also holding a 24-12 in fast break points and a 44-34 lead in points in the paint as the Wildcats had the upper hand on the inside for much of the contest.
Wilmington shot 57.6 % (34-of-59) from the field and 45.5 (10-of-22) from three-point territory while also shooting 61.9 % from the line while holding West Chester to a 41.4 % field-goal percentage and a 34.6 % three-point shooting effort in the setback.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action next Monday night vs Georgian Court with that contest set to begin at 6 p.m.
