EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa.- Following a comeback victory, which saw West Chester (11-5, 6-4) come from behind twice, including a comeback in the final two minutes of play, the Golden Rams have shifted their collective attention to #14/20 East Stroudsburg (14-2, 8-2) as the team's will renew their rivalry on Saturday afternoon beginning at 3 p.m.
Series Information
West Chester holds a 90-77 lead over East Stroudsburg in the all-time series; however, recent history has not been as favorable for the Golden Rams, with ESU winning each of the last six and eight of the last 10 in the series.
In the most recent meeting between WCU and ESU in the regular season home finale for West Chester a year ago, a high-scoring affair was predicted as the game featured two of the top offenses in the PSAC, and it did not disappoint with the final score winding up as 100-95 in favor of ESU. West Chester got out to an early 13-point lead just five minutes in, but ESU outscored its hosts by 13 in the remainder of the half to send the game to the half tied at 53-53. East Stroudsburg opened up the second half strong and took a 17-point lead with 8:11 to play before West Chester began its comeback effort. The Golden Rams outscored the Warriors by 11 in the final minutes of play, eventually cutting the deficit to as few as three points before ESU closed the game at the free-throw line to escape with a five-point victory.
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) and
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) led the team in scoring in this contest, finishing with 24 and 21 points, respectively.
Flock Talk
West Chester enters play coming off an impressive win at Lock Haven on Wednesday night, which saw the Golden Rams erase a 12-point first-half deficit and a four-point deficit late in the second half to earn a 73-68 victory on the road. West Chester found itself trailing 23-11 midway through the first half but closed the half on a solid run, including a 16-0 run late to carry a 36-32 lead into the halftime break. West Chester eventually stretched its lead to as many as nine early in the second half before Lock Haven mounted a comeback of its own, which saw the Bald Eagles take a 66-62 lead in the final minutes of regulation. With under two minutes to play,
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) took over, draining a corner three to give West Chester a 67-66 lead before hitting a pull-up jumper just seconds later following a Lock Haven turnover to give West Chester a 69-66 lead the Golden Rams would never relinquish. This five-point run sparked an 11-2 run to end the game for the Golden Rams as the team held for the 73-68 victory. Smith led all scorers with 19 points in the win as one of four Golden Rams in double figures.
Eli Barrett also continued his streak of scoring in double figures since returning from the Holiday Break, finishing with 11, which stretched his streak to six games in a row in double figures.
With his 19-point effort, Smith halted a difficult stretch for himself and increased his season-scoring average to 15.1 points per game, which is best on the team, just ahead of
Kyle McGee, who is second, averaging 14.9 points per game. Smith is also second on the team in steals, averaging 1.4 steals per game, while McGee leads the team in assists (3.6/g) and steals (1.7/g) while ranking third in rebounding (5.9/g) behind
Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) and
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg), who average 6.0 and 8.4 rebounds per game, respectively.
As a team, West Chester has not showcased as much of the offensive firepower as fans may have grown accustomed to in recent years, ranking seventh in the league in scoring average, averaging 76.4 points per game on 43.0 % field goal shooting and 32.7 % shooting from beyond the arc. West Chester does, however, remain one of the top rebounding teams in the nation, leading the PSAC in rebounding, averaging 41.5 rebounds per game, and first in offensive rebounding, averaging 13.9 per game. West Chester is 14
th in the DII in offensive rebounding, which has helped the Golden Rams average 14.9 second-chance points per game, outscoring opponents in 13-of-16 games so far this season. Rebounding success and team success has gone hand-in-hand for West Chester this season, with the team playing to a record of 10-2 when outrebounding its opponents while going 1-3 in games where it is outrebounded, with the lone victory coming in the win over Seton Hill on December 30
th.
Scouting East Stroudsburg
East Stroudsburg enters play following a loss at the hands of Shepherd on Wednesday night, falling to the Rams by a 96-88 final in West Virginia. East Stroudsburg trailed by 11 at the half, which is what eventually spelled doom for the nationally-ranked Warriors as the team, outscored the Rams by three in the second half, but it was not enough to erase the first-half deficit. ESU shot well from the field, shooting 51.9 % from the field and 48.1 % from deep, but Shepherd was equal to the task, shooting 51.8 % from the field and a blistering 53.8 % from beyond the arc to pull off the upset. Carlos Pepin, who leads the team in scoring, averaging 19.4 points per game, scored 19 while also providing a team-high five assists in the setback.
East Stroudsburg remains one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the PSAC, averaging a league-best 95.6 points per game, thanks largely to the efforts of Carlos Pepin and Lakeem McAliley, who rank first and second on the team in scoring, averaging 19.4 and 16.9 points per game. Pepin and McAlilye also lead the team in rebounding, averaging 9.8 and 6.8 rebounds per contest, while McAliley also averages a team-best 1.8 steals per game. As a team, ESU enters play with a 51.2 % field-goal percentage and a 37.7 % three-point shooting percentage to go along with a solid 73.5 % free-throw shooting effort. The Warriors are also second to the Golden Rams in rebounding, averaging 40.8 rebounds per contest entering play on Saturday evening.
Up Next:
West Chester will have a quick turnaround as the team is back in action on Monday night at home vs. Shepherd beginning at 7:30 p.m.
