WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Looking to continue its home winning streak and secure itself a spot in the PSAC Tournament later this month, the West Chester men's basketball team (15-9, 9-9 PSAC) returned home on Wednesday night to host Kutztown (7-18, 4-15), and accomplished both its goals, dispatching the Golden Bears by a final of 104-77, continuing its dominant stretch of play inside Hollinger Field House.
West Chester used an impressive 21-point run in the first half to break open what had been a close game as the Golden Rams rolled to a 27 point victory over Kutztown, exacting revenge for a narrow loss on a last second basket against the Golden Bears earlier this season.
West Chester saw 14 different players score points and had six in double figures led by an 18-point (6-of-9 shooting) effort from
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) while
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) was close behind with 16 points of his own and
Jamil Manigo (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) added 12 on 4-of-6 shooting to help lead the Golden Ram offense.
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) and
Cam Polak (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) ended with 10 points each while
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) chipped in 11 in the victory.
West Chester ended the game shooting an impressive 59.4 % from the field, shooting 62.2 % in the first half and 56.3 % from the field in the second half while also shooting 52.2 % from three and 55.6 % from the line in the victory. West Chester's field-goal shooting performance set a new season-high for the Golden Rams in this category as well.
This evening's 100-point outburst was the Golden Rams first 100-point game of the season and the first such game since February 4
th, 2020 vs Bloomsburg when the team scored 100 en route to the victory while 104 points is the most since they scored 113 vs Lincoln on 11/9/19.
In the first half, West Chester and Kutztown traded makes and runs throughout the early going as West Chester held a slim 24-23 lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the opening half.
With its slim lead and just under 10 minutes to play, West Chester went on a 21-0 run with points from six different players including a run-high six points from
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) to take a commanding 45-23 lead with 5:04 to play in the half. In the final five minutes of the first half, West Chester extended its lead, outscoring Kutztown 16-11 over this span led by 10 points from
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) to take a 61-34 lead into the halftime break.
Smith led all scorers in the first half, scoring 16 points as West Chester surpassed its previous first-half high of 56 to take a commanding 27-point lead into the second half.
In the second half, it was more of the same for West Chester as the Golden Rams stretched their lead to as many as 31 points with 11:21 to play en route to a resounding 104-77 victory over Kutztown, which saw West Chester trail for only 15 seconds in the near wire-to-wire victory.
For Kutztown, Jalen Bryant scored 15 points with much of his damage coming from the charity stripe, going 6-of-6 from the line while Channick Nkoma finished with a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
As a team, Kutztown shot 42.1 % from the field on the night, thanks to a 52.2 % shooting effort in the second half while also shooting 45.5 % from three and 75.0 % from the line in the loss.
West Chester ended the game with a 40-33 edge in rebounding and a 13-11 edge in the turnover battle, which parlayed itself into a 17-12 edge in second-chance points and a 15-9 advantage in points off turnovers. West Chester also ended the game with a 44-30 lead in points in the paint, a 17-9 lead in points off the break, and a 57-32 advantage in bench points as the Golden Rams second unit continues to be difficult for opponents to contain.
While this victory extends West Chester's home winning streak to six games, it also further improves upon an already impressive stat as the Golden Rams have outscored their guests by 113 points over the course of the last four home victories.
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at Lock Haven with that contest set to begin at 3 p.m.
