WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Following another convincing home win on Saturday afternoon over Bloomsburg, the West Chester men's basketball team (13-9, 7-9) will look to run its home winning streak to five in a row vs Shippensburg (15-7, 12-5) on Monday evening inside Hollinger Field House beginning at 7:30 p.m.
FAN INFORMATION
As a reminder, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask when attending any indoor athletic contests inside Hollinger Field house, the Sturzebecker Health Science Center, or the Graham Natatorium. 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 Shippensburg are old rivals, having met 106 times over the years with West Chester holding a 72-34 lead in the all-time series between the two teams. Shippensburg swept the season series in the 2019-20, winning the final meeting by an 83-58 final. West Chester has not won inside Heiges Field House since the 2015-16 season, going 0-4 since that last win on 12/1/15.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Jamil Manigo (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) led West Chester in scoring with 15 points and the Golden Rams closed the game on a 14-1 run, which saw them hold Shippensburg without a point in the final five minutes of the game but a 20-point deficit earlier in the half was too much to overcome in the 76-67 setback at Shippensburg
. Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) led the charge for the Golden Rams in their ill-fated comeback bid, scoring six of his eight points during the 14-1 run but it was not enough to come all the way back to defeat the Raiders. This nine-point loss was the Golden Rams second largest loss of the season, second only to their loss vs IUP as the Golden Rams have dropped eight of their nine games this year by single digits.
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) was the lone other Golden Ram in double figures in the loss, finishing with 10 points while Dade narrowly missed a double-double finishing with nine points and eight rebounds in the setback. As a team, West Chester shot 35.4 % from the field and just 25.0 % from beyond the arc while also shooting 77.3 % from the line in the setback.
FLOCK TALK
Following a frustrating loss at Shippensburg last Wednesday night, the West Chester men's basketball team returned home on Saturday to put its three-game home winning streak to the test against Bloomsburg. If the contest was a test for the Purple and Gold, it is safe to say that they passed with flying colors as the Golden Rams never trailed en route to a 33-point (91-58) thrashing of the visiting Huskies.
Elijah Allen, who set his career-high in scoring at Bloomsburg in the January meeting, led all scorers with 19 points as one of four Golden Rams in double figures while
Kyle McGee had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the triumph. West Chester shot well from the field, shooting 50.7 % on the night including a 54.8 % shooting performance while holding Bloomsburg to just 37.3 % shooting and keeping the Huskies from making a three, marking the first time West Chester accomplished that feat this season.
As a team, West Chester has been an impressive offensive unit throughout the season, leading the league in scoring, averaging 84.2 points per game entering the final two weeks of the regular season, but the Golden Rams will face one of the league's top defensive units tonight as Shippensburg is fourth in the league (second in the East) in points allowed, allowing an average of just 65.5 points per game. West Chester has played to a mark of 1-2 against the top four defensive units in the league this season, splitting the season series vs Shepherd and falling to IUP earlier in December.
Offensively, West Chester has employed a balanced, anyone can be a threat style of play this season, which when things are working for the Golden Rams can be incredibly difficult to stop. To this end, West Chester has five players averaging north of 10 points per game led by
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) who leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per game. Of the Golden Rams 13 wins this season, West Chester has seen at least four players score in double figures in 11 of those 13 wins with the only two exceptions being against Lincoln and Shepherd when two Golden Rams scored in double figures to help lead West Chester to the victory.
Historically, West Chester has been difficult to beat inside Hollinger Field House as was documented earlier this season, (109-35 since 2011-12) West Chester is currently riding a four-game home winning streak, which has seen it win all four games by 10 points or more including the last two games by a combined 83 points (50 & 33, respectively).
SCOUTING SHIP
Shippensburg enters play looking to erase the memory of an overtime loss at Lock Haven on Saturday afternoon. Trailing by five heading to the halftime break, Shippensburg erased its first half deficit and evened the score at 63-63 to force overtime. Lock Haven had the better of the play in the extra session, outscoring Shippensburg 16-4 in this frame to earn the home court victory over the Raiders. Despite the loss, Dom Sleva was impressive for Shippensburg, finishing with 20 points and 19 rebounds as one of three players in double figures for the Raiders in the setback. As a team, Shippensburg shot just 30.8 % from the field on the game after shooting below 40 % through regulation and then just over nine percent in overtime to fall to the Bald Eagles.
Rashon Johnson has been a difficult problem for opposing defenses to solve throughout the season, averaging 16.0 points per game along with 7.6 rebounds per contest to help lead the Raiders. Dom Sleva, a name that will sound familiar to Golden Ram fans as he is the younger brother of former Shippensburg star Dustin Sleva, who is currently playing professional basketball in France, has been difficult to contend with, registering five double-doubles this season including a season-best 20 points and 19 rebounds in the loss on Saturday at Lock Haven. West Chester was able to hold Sleva relatively in check in the last meeting between the two rivals, limiting him to 13 points and seven rebounds in the first meeting of the year.
UP NEXT
West Chester will conclude its homestand on Wednesday evening at home against Kutztown beginning at 7:30 p.m.
