WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After clinching the fourth seed on Wednesday evening as a result of other results around the PSAC, the West Chester men's basketball team (16-10, 10-10) will look to close out its regular season on a high note on Saturday afternoon against the team tied with Millersville for first in the PSAC East in East Stroudsburg (18-7, 16-5). This game will be the second game of a doubleheader as the West Chester women's basketball team will play its Senior Day game and continue its fight for the sixth seed in the upcoming PSAC Tournament prior to the men's game on Saturday afternoon.
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.
In addition to Saturday's senior day festivities, Saturday will also be Rammy's Birthday Celebration, happening from 2-4 p.m. Additionally, Saturday has been designated as a "Purple-Out" game with free t-shirts and rally towels available while supplies last.
SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester and East Stroudsburg have no shortage of history between one another (although certainly not as lengthy as the 100-plus year history between the Golden Rams and Millersville Marauders), having met 166 times dating back to the 1927 season. Over the course of these 166 meetings, West Chester has historically had the upper hand, defeating the Warriors 90 times while dropping just 76 of those meetings in the series. Recent history between the two squads has shown much more balance, as East Stroudsburg has emerged victorious in seven of the last 10 meetings, including each of the last five and seven of the last eight.
In the first meeting against ESU, West Chester entered play looking to pick up its second win in a row, having defeated Bloomsburg on Saturday on the road. West Chester led only briefly in this contest but was able to keep the game close throughout, trailing by as few as three points in the waning moments of regulation as East Stroudsburg escaped with a 73-69 victory over the visiting Golden Rams.
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) and
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) led the team in scoring in the setback, registering 13 points each while
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) came away with a team-high 10 rebounds on the night. As a team, West Chester shot 40.9 % from the floor and 45.5 % from deep while also shooting 76.9 % from the line in the setback.
FLOCK TALK
On Wednesday evening, West Chester needed either a victory at Millersville or a Shepherd loss to clinch the four seed and a home game in next week's PSAC Tournament. While West Chester fell to Millersville, Shippensburg was able to defeat Shepherd, thus, giving West Chester the four seed in the PSAC Tournament. At Millersville, West Chester found itself behind early, eventually trailing by as many as 29 points midway through the second half before closing the game on an 11-0 run in the 92-80 setback.
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) who set a career-high in scoring on Saturday afternoon at Lock Haven to improve its chance at the fourth seed, did his best to repeat the performance on Wednesday night, finishing with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting while also coming away with six rebounds in the setback. Unfortunately for West Chester, Millersville was remarkably balanced on Wednesday night as its entire starting five finished in double figures led by 19 points from James Sullivan to bounce back from a loss on the road at Shepherd on the Wednesday prior. As a team, West Chester shot 42.0 % from the field and 20.8 % from deep while the Marauders shot 52.4 % from the field and 47.6 % from three-point territory in the setback.
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 898-395, averaging 34.5 points per game off the bench compared to just 15.2 for its opponents.
While West Chester had its four-game winning streak halted in unceremonious fashion on Wednesday night, West Chester has still won six in a row inside Hollinger Field House with its last home loss coming over a month ago on January 19th vs Millersville. Over the course of this six-game home winning streak, West Chester has outscored its opponents 528-393 over that stretch, including three wins by 25 points or more with two of those coming by 30 points or more.
SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG
East Stroudsburg concluded its home slate on Wednesday evening vs Mansfield, emerging victorious in a 116-97 slugfest inside Koehler Field House. This game was high scoring from the start as the two sides combined for 27 points (17-10 ESU) before the first media timeout, which helped East Stroudsburg carry a 61-51 lead into the halftime break. In the second half, East Stroudsburg continued to extend its lead, eventually earning the 116-97 victory, marking the second game in a row in which ESU has eclipsed the 100-point plateau, which was last accomplished during the 2019-20 season with 100-point efforts vs Cheyney and Felician. Lakeem McAliley had a huge day finishing with 29 points and 11 rebounds as one of six Warriors in double figures and one of two with a double-double as Justin Paz finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
Despite McAliley's stellar performance on Wednesday evening, Carlos Pepin remains the leading scorer and rebounder for East Stroudsburg this season, averaging 14.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game, all of which lead the team entering the final game of the regular season. Paz, who registered 10 assists on Wednesday night in the victory, becoming the first Warrior (since 2001-02) to register 10 or more assists in three consecutive games, leads the team in assists, averaging 4.0 helpers per game, which ranks 10
th best in the PSAC. East Stroudsburg, who is aware that a victory, coupled with a Millersville loss would allow the Warriors to capture the PSAC East Regular Season crown, enters play as the second-best offensive unit in the PSAC, averaging 83.2 points per game, which is second only to West Chester who remains the top offensive group in the PSAC. On the year, East Stroudsburg is shooting 46.7 % from the field and 34.0 % from beyond the arc while also
forcing opponents into almost four (3.9) more turnovers per game in what has been another solid year for the Warriors.
UP NEXT
West Chester will wait to learn the results of other games on Saturday afternoon to find out who its First Round opponent will be on Monday night inside Hollinger Field House.
