PSAC Championship Central
WEST CHESTER, Pa.-Following the traditionally rigorous PSAC Regular season slate, a new season will begin on Monday evening for 12 lucky teams, with two of those teams playing inside Hollinger Field House for the right to advance to the PSAC Quarterfinals. West Chester (16-11, 10-11 PSAC) and Shepherd (12-16, 8-14) have, on paper at least, had somewhat similar seasons to one another, each battling through a challenging Crossover Schedule and getting hot at the right time in 2022 to earn a spot in the PSAC Tournament, West Chester earning a home game on Monday evening. Opening tip in this contest is set for 7 p.m., with the winner earning the right to travel to top-seed and PSAC East Regular Season Champion Millersville on Monday night.
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.
All tickets will be sold on-site at Hollinger Field House, with adult tickets being $10, while student tickets will be $5 with free admission being granted to students from PSAC Member Institutions with current, valid school ID. Additionally, there will be no complimentary tickets available for the game on Monday night.
SERIES INFORMATION
In stark contrast to the Golden Rams history vs other members of the PSAC, West Chester and Shepherd have met just six times in their respective histories, with the first meeting coming on December 5, 1997, which the Golden Rams won by a final score of 66-61. All told, West Chester is 5-3 against Shepherd, after splitting the 2021-22 season series with West Chester earning a victory over the Rams inside Hollinger Field House on February 2
nd by a final of 70-57 after falling to the Rams just 48 hours earlier by a final of 70-65 in Shepherdstown.
Similarly to the 2019-20 season series, West Chester and Shepherd engaged in a pair of tight games this season, leading to a split of the season series with each team earning a victory on its home court, with the Golden Rams winning most recently back on February 2
nd to open the month of February. In this game, West Chester bounced back nicely after being held to its lowest scoring output of the season on Monday night at Shepherd (65 points) but still struggled to put up a large number against the PSAC East's best defense, registering the third-lowest offensive effort of the season in the win on Wednesday. West Chester trailed only briefly in this game, eventually going on an impressive run that spanned the late stages of the first half into the second half to open up a lead, which grew to as many as 17 points in the second half en route to the 13-point victory.
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) led West Chester in scoring with 16 points while
Matt Dade scored 12 of his own in the victory as the two Golden Rams in double figures. Bench scoring continued to be a strong point for the Purple and Gold on Wednesday evening, outscoring the limited Shepherd bench 40-8 in the triumph. West Chester also got its rebounding back on track on Wednesday evening, outrebounding Shepherd 42-28 overall and 17-6 on the offensive glass.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester ended its regular season at home on Saturday afternoon in front of a packed Hollinger Field House crowd as the longtime rival East Stroudsburg came to town for the Golden Rams regular-season home finale. A high-scoring contest was the expectation on Saturday afternoon as the game pitted two of the league's top offensive units against one another, and the second half ensured a high-scoring affair is just what the fans would get. West Chester jumped out to an early lead in this contest, taking a 22-9 lead around the 15 minute mark of the first half before East Stroudsburg outscored West Chester 44-31 over the remainder of the half to take the game to the halftime break even at 53-53. In the second half, it was ESU's turn to start the half strong, jumping out to a 17-point lead with just over eight minutes to play in regulation. As it has shown for much of the season, West Chester was undeterred by the second-half deficit, going on a 28-17 run down the stretch to pull back within four points of the Warriors in the closing seconds, but East Stroudsburg was able to hold on, sinking the late free throws it needed to earn the 100-95 victory over its hosts on Saturday evening.
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) continued his hot streak on Saturday evening, matching his career-high with 24 points, marking the third game in a row in which he has scored 20 or more points.
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) also turned in a strong effort, finishing with a career-best 21 points of his own in the setback. As a team, West Chester shot above 50.0 % from deep in both halves in one of the Golden Rams best three-point shooting nights of the year, ending the game shooting 54.2 % from range while shooting 48.5 % from the field in the setback.
The 2021-22 season has been a season of runs for the Golden Rams as West Chester opened the year with a five-game winning streak in non-league play, which remains the teams longest winning streak of the season before a difficult month of December saw the team play to a mark of 2-3 in PSAC Crossover action. After its last game on December 19
th at Slippery Rock (an 86-81 setback), West Chester did not take to the floor again until January 15
th, when it snuck past Mansfield by a 99-97 final in its first home game since December 4
th vs. IUP. From this point, West Chester encountered a string of tough luck, going 2-3 over its next five games; however, all three losses were decided by five points or less, with two of them (at Kutztown/vs. Millersville) being decided by a single basket. West Chester ended the month of January, a month it would surely like to forget with a record of 3-5 on the month, dropping its final two games of the month at Mansfield and Shepherd. After a challenging month of January, West Chester reversed its fortunes in a big way in February, going 6-1 through the first seven games of the month, cruising past opponents as the Golden Rams registered three victories by 25 points or more during that span to help themselves solidify a spot in the postseason and put themselves in position to earn the fourth seed on Wednesday night following a Shepherd loss vs. Shippensburg.
Part of what has made the Golden Rams such a dangerous team offensively throughout the 2021-22 season has been the well-rounded offense that Coach Blair and his charges carry out on a night-to-night basis. Entering the PSAC Tournament, West Chester ranks atop the league in scoring, averaging 84.8 points per game despite not having a player in the top-20 on the PSAC Individual scoring chart this season. This is due to the impressive balance, which West Chester displays, having five players averaging in double figures on the year, all of whom have shown they are more than capable of having a big night and carrying West Chester to the victory.
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) remains the Golden Rams leading scorer, a mantle he has held for much of the season, averaging 14.0 points per game, while
Matt Dade (Collegeville, Pa./Episcopal Academy) is second in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game. Smith and Dade lay claim to the two top-scoring efforts for the Golden Rams this season as Smith poured in 28 points vs. Lincoln in just his second collegiate game while Dade finished with 27 in a road victory over Bloomsburg during the month of January. Also averaging in double figures is Allen, averaging 12.4 points per game, catching fire as of late, scoring 22 points or more in each of the last three games, while McGee and
Jamil Manigo (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) round out the Golden Rams in double figures for the year, averaging 10.7 and 11.4 points per game, respectively.
When reviewing the Golden Rams credentials entering the postseason, one would be remiss in failing to mention the teams rebounding efforts this season, which rank among the best in all of Division II men's basketball. Averaging a league-best 42.7 rebounds per game, West Chester also ranks second in Division II in offensive rebounds per game, averaging 15.58 per contest, effectively giving the Golden Rams almost 16 extra offensive possessions per contest when the offensive rebounding is at its best. Dade has been the Golden Rams leader on the glass throughout the season, averaging 8.2 rebounds per game, which ranks him sixth in the PSAC and third in the PSAC East with seven double-doubles to his credit on the season.
SCOUTING SHEPHERD
In order to advance through to the Quarterfinal round of the PSAC Tournament, West Chester will need to first defeat a very capable opponent in the Shepherd Rams. Shepherd enters this game with a season story somewhat similar to that of the Golden Rams, a strong start to league play, which saw Shepherd go 4-1 through its first five games before encountering tough times in crossover play, going just 1-5 vs the Western Division. In East play, Shepherd has worked to make up for its crossover play deficiencies, going 6-9 vs the East, entering the PSAC Tournament with a conference record of 8-14 on the year, good enough to find its way into the Tournament as the fifth seed.
As a unit, Shepherd ranks last in the PSAC in scoring, averaging just 67.0 points per game, despite Kyle Daggett's best efforts as he averages 17.0 points per game, which is 11
th best in the PSAC. Shepherd does, however, make up for its offensive struggles with a stifling defense, which ranked atop the PSAC for much of the season, now ranking fourth in the loop (second in the East) averaging 67.0 points allowed per game to limit opposing offenses and keep itself in the game throughout. To that end, only one opponent has accomplished the challenging task of scoring 80 or more points against the Rams this season; with that honor going to Bowie State as the Bulldogs scored 81 points in a game, they would lose 88-81. Meanwhile, Shepherd has managed to hold opponents to as few as 39 points earlier this season and has limited some of the PSACs top scoring offenses to 70 points or less throughout the campaign, holding West Chester to 65 and 70, Cal to 64, and IUP to 65 as a few examples.
Daggett is one of two Rams averaging in double figures this season, as Cam Stephens is the lone other Shepherd player to average north of 10.0 points per game, averaging 10.9 entering the PSAC Tournament. Daggett is a multi-faceted player for the Rams as he also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.9 rebounds per contest while also leading the squad in blocks, averaging 0.6 blocks per game. Stephens takes on the more traditional guard roles for the Rams, scoring when called upon but also leading the team in assists, averaging 4.9 per game and steals, averaging 1.5 per game entering the PSAC Tournament.
WITH A WIN
With a victory on Monday evening, West Chester would advance to take on top-seed and PSAC East Regular Season Champion Millersville in a PSAC Quarterfinal battle on Wednesday evening for the right to head West as one of the Eastern Divisions two representatives in the PSAC Semifinals.
