WEST CHESTER, Pa.- West Chester (14-9, 8-9) trailed early, falling behind by as many as 14 points nearing the midway point of the first half but closed the half on a 28-5 run to take a lead into the halftime break. The halftime lead would be short-lived as Shippensburg (15-8, 12-6) answered with multiple runs of its own throughout the second half to erase the halftime deficit and create a tight game, which came down to the final possession. Following a made three by
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) with 1:38 to go, which put West Chester up three (71-68), Shippensburg had the final shot of the game on a driving layup as time expired, but the shot fell off as West Chester escaped with a 71-70 victory over the Raiders.
Allen's three were arguably some of the most important points of his seven points on the night while
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) led West Chester in scoring with 16 points and 12 rebounds to earn a double-double while
Jamil Manigo (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) and
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) each ended with 12 points in the comeback victory.
West Chester found itself in an early hole, trailing 22-8 with 10:11 to play in the first half before beginning its comeback effort. Over the next nine minutes of action, West Chester did not allow Shippensburg to make a field goal, outscoring the Raiders 28-4 over this span with Shippensburg's only four points from the charity stripe. This impressive run allowed West Chester to erase its 14-point deficit and take a 36-24 lead with two minutes to play in the first half.
Shippensburg scored the final points of the first half, hitting a pull-up jumper with 1:50 remaining and going 1-for-2 from the line with 48 seconds to play in the first half as the Raiders found themselves trailing 36-27 heading into the halftime break.
In the first half, West Chester was the definition of balanced offensively as eight different Golden Rams scored points in the first 20 minutes with
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) leading the way with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) was a force on the glass, coming away with eight rebounds to lead all players in rebounding in the first half.
As a team, West Chester shot 45.7 % (16-of-35) from the field and 30.0 % from three-point range while holding Shippensburg to just 34.4 % shooting from the field.
Shippensburg opened the second half with an 11-8 run over the first 4:49 of the second half to trim the deficit to 44-38 with 15:11 to play. Shippensburg continued to battle back over the remainder of the second half, as the half included two lead changes and six ties. Shippensburg held a slim 68-66 lead with 2:45 to play before West Chester scored five of the games final seven points, the most important of which came via a made three from Allen to earn a narrow victory over the visiting Raiders.
Jake Biss led the Raiders in scoring with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting while Rashon Johnson, who was the Raiders leading scorer finished with 16 points on 6-of-18 shooting along with 10 rebounds for a double-double of his own in the setback.
As a team, West Chester ended the game with a +11 (42-31) advantage on the glass, which led to a 14-10 advantage in second-chance points and a 46-36 edge in points in the paint. West Chester's bench, which has been a storyline for the Golden Rams throughout the season, was brilliant once again, outscoring the Raider bench 26-1 in the comeback victory.
As a team, West Chester ended the game shooting 48.4 % from the field and 35.7 % from three-point range, thanks in large part to a very efficient 2-for-4 effort from deep in the second half. West Chester also ended the game with an 80.0 % free-throw shooting percentage, making the most of limited opportunities at the line, as the Golden Rams were 4-of-5 from the line in the victory.
For Shippensburg, the Raiders shot an impressive 61.5 % from the field in the second half to rebound nicely from a poor first-half shooting effort but also shot just 61.5 % from the line over the second 20 minutes of basketball in the setback. For the game as a whole, Shippensburg shot 46.6 % from the field and 31.3 % from three-point range while shooting a low 47.8 % from the line, after going just 3-of-10 from the stripe during the first half of action.
West Chester will look to extend its home winning streak to six games in a row on Wednesday evening vs Kutztown with that contest set to begin at 7:30 p.m. inside Hollinger Field House.
