LOCK HAVEN, Pa.- After clinching its ninth consecutive PSAC Tournament appearance with a victory over Kutztown on Wednesday night, the West Chester men's basketball team (15-9, 9-9) will now turn its attention to seeding as the Golden Rams visit Lock Haven (11-12, 8-11) for a 3 p.m. start at the home of the Bald Eagles.
SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester and Lock Haven are known to have met 40 times in their respective histories, with West Chester finding itself on the winning end of 30 of those matchups. In recent years, dating back to the 2008 season, West Chester has gone 17-5 vs its northern adversaries, including taking three of the last four meetings.
In the first matchup of the season against Lock Haven, West Chester trailed only briefly in this contest, trailing by just two points in the early stages of the first half before rattling off a 12-2 run to erase the early deficit and take a lead they would never relinquish. After carrying an 11-point (54-43) lead into the halftime break, West Chester extended its lead to as many as 21 points just over five minutes into the second half to take a strangle hold on the contest. Lock Haven would not be denied as the Bald Eagles stormed back, trimming the deficit to just nine points in the waning moments but West Chester held on a for a 93-82 victory over its rivals.
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) led four Golden Rams in double figures with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting while
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) added 17 of his won on 7-of-10 shooting.
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) and
Cam Polak (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) each turned in very efficient outings to reach double figures, going 3-of-5 from the field and 4-of-6 (4-for-5 from three) to finish with 11 and 12 points, respectively. As a team, West Chester turned in one of its best three-point shooting efforts in recent memory, shooting 68.4 % from deep and 52.4 % from field-goal range.
FLOCK TALK
Looking to extends it home winning streak to six games in a row, the West Chester men's basketball team squared off against Kutztown inside Hollinger Field House on Saturday afternoon. West Chester trailed only briefly for a total of 15 seconds on the night en route to a 104-77 win over Kutztown. West Chester used a 21-0 run in the first half to take its lead from one point to 22 in just a few minutes of action before eventually stretching the lead to as many as 31 points with 11:21 to play in regulation en route to its first 100-point victory of the season.
Robert Smith had a big first half, scoring a game-high 16 points before ending with 18 points while
Matt Dade finished with 16 of his own to help lead West Chester in scoring in the victory. West Chester had its best first half of the season, scoring 61 points in the first 20 minutes of play and shot an impressive 59.4 % from the field on the game, which also set a new a season-high for the Golden Rams as they exacted revenge over Kutztown for a narrow loss earlier in the season.
Dade has been one of the most consistent Golden Rams this season, scoring in double figures in 20 of 24 games, including four games with 20 or more points. Dade has also come away with 10 rebounds in eight of 24 games this year, registering seven double doubles on the season to lead the Golden Rams in this category. The sophomore guard/forward combo has led the team in scoring in five games this season including three of the last eight contests with a season-high 27 coming earlier in the month of January at Bloomsburg.
While the Golden Ram's starting five has been challenging to stop throughout the season, things do not get any easier for opponents when West Chester turns to its second unit as this group has outscored opponents in every game so far this season, including an impressive 76-23 effort vs PSU-Brandywine earlier in the year. Overall, West Chester's bench has outscored the opposing bench unit 842-370, averaging 35.1 points per game off the bench compared to just 15.4 for its opponents. Additionally, the West Chester bench has accounted for 41.5 % of the Golden Rams points so far this season. Recent times have been good to the Golden Rams as West Chester enters play following a 3-0 homestand, which saw it outscore its opponents by 51 points over the course of the three victories, which allowed the Golden Rams to secure their spot in the PSAC Tournament.
A LOOK AT LOCK HAVEN
Lock Haven also secured itself a spot in the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday evening, holding on to defeat Bloomsburg by an 85-79 final score on the road on Wednesday night. Lock Haven and Bloomsburg traded scores throughout much of the early part of the contest, but it was Lock Haven who closed out the half with a six-point lead, which would prove crucial in the victory. In the second half, Bloomsburg erased the deficit, trailing by just one (79-78) with two minutes to play, which held until just 35 seconds remained. In the closing seconds, Lock Haven made the most of its trips to the scoring its final six points from the stripe to hold on for a 85-79 victory. Mark Anthony Fidelis led Lock Haven in scoring with 22 points while Jesse McPherson notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the pivotal victory.
Fidelis has been a key factor for Lock Haven offensively this year, averaging 14.6 points per game while DaQuan Granberry is second on the squad, averaging 13.8 points while also ranking second on the squad in rebounding, averaging 5.0 rebounds per contest. As a team, Lock Haven enters play averaging 72.5 points per game, shooting 44.0 % from the field and 33.9 % from beyond the arc. Lock Haven enters play shooting 72.3 % from the line, following a poor performance on Wednesday evening at Bloomsburg, which saw them shoot 57.1 % from the line in a narrow six-point victory.
UP NEXT
West Chester will be back in action on Wednesday on the road at Millersville with that contest set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
