WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Looking to remain perfect at home in the month of February, West Chester (13-9, 7-9 PSAC) returned home on Saturday afternoon to face Bloomsburg (4-17, 3-14 PSAC) following a frustrating loss at the hands of Shippensburg on Wednesday evening. West Chester stretched its home winning streak to four games in a row and completed a season sweep of Bloomsburg on Saturday evening, cruising past the Huskies by a 91-58 final score.
West Chester, who never trailed in the contest, took an early lead and never looked back, leading by as many as 37 points late in the second quarter, en route to the 33-point victory.
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) who set his career-high at Bloomsburg in January was terrific for West Chester, leading all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting including a 4-for-7 effort from deep.
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) continued his strong run of play with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season while
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) and
Robert Smith (Philadephia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) both ended the contest in double figures with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
West Chester wasted little time getting out to an early lead in the first half, never trailing through the first 20 minutes of basketball, and going on a 14-0 scoring run just after the 10 minute mark of play to lead by as many as 21 points with 7:43 to play.
Over the final 7:43 of the first half, Bloomsburg worked to cut into the deficit, but was only moderately successful, trimming the deficit to 48-30 at the halftime break.
In the first half, West Chester shot 54.8 % from the field and 40.0 % from tree as
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) and
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) both ended the half tied for the game-lead in scoring with 13 points each, thanks in large part to an impressive 5-of-6 effort from Dade.
In the second half it was more of the same, as West Chester held Bloomsburg to just 28 points, which was the third lowest second-half scoring output by an opponent this season while adding on 43 more points of its own to roll to the victory.
As a team, West Chester ended the game shooting a solid 50.7 % from the field and 38.1 % (8-of-21) from three while also shooting 72.2 % from the line while holding Bloomsburg to just 37.3 % shooting from the field on the game. Bloomsburg failed to make a three-pointer in this contest, going 0-of-11 from range, marking the first time this season in which West Chester has kept an opponent from draining a three. Bloomsburg also shot just 60.9 % (14-of-23) from the line in the loss.
West Chester, was dominant on the glass, ending the game with a 55-26 edge in rebounding, which turned into a 30-9 advantage in second-chance points as the Golden Rams cruised to the victory.
Bloomsburg did manage to end the game with a 16-13 edge in the turnover battle, after forcing the Golden Rams second unit into multiple turnovers on the final possessions of the game but West Chester still ended the contest with a 17-16 lead in points off turnovers and a 17-11 advantage in points off the break.
Depth has been one of the Golden Rams calling cards this season as the Purple and Gold have outscored the opponents bench in every game so far this season and Saturday night was no different as West Chester ended the game with a 39-34 advantage in bench scoring. While West Chester did end the game with an advantage in this category once again, 34 points was the most an opponents second unit has managed against the Purple and Gold this season thanks in large part to a team-high 17 points from Cam Villarouel as one of three Huskies in double figures.
Over the course of this four-game home winning streak, West Chester who has had mixed success in tight games this season, has left little doubt as to the outcome of the contests, winning each game by 10 points or more, including the last two games, which it has won by 50 and 33 points, respectively.
West Chester will be back in action on Monday evening vs Shippensburg beginning at 7:30 p.m. inside Hollinger Field House in the second game of the season series vs the Raiders.
