EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa.- Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) had a career day, finishing with 18 points and 13 rebounds to help lead West Chester past #14/20 East Stroudsburg by an 86-81 final on Saturday evening.
West Chester trailed only briefly this afternoon, finding itself behind for just 1:54 seconds of the first half before erasing its 6-4 deficit with a made jumper by
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption). West Chester and ESU traded baskets briefly before a 6-0 run gave West Chester a 14-8 lead in would never fully relinquish. The Golden Rams eventually stretched their first-half lead to as many as nine (29-20) with 6:32 to play before leading by as many as 15 midway through the second half en route to the victory over its nationally-ranked foes.
Walker, who set career-highs in both scoring and rebounding in the victory as one of six Golden Rams in double figures as
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) and
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) each finished with 14 while
Anthony Purnell (Chester, Pa./Kiski) had 13,
Jamil Manigo (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) had 11, and
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) had 10 in the victory.
Tonight's victory also halts a six-game losing streak vs the Warriors, giving West Chester its first win over ESU since January of the 2019 season, which was also at ESU.
ESU made the game's first basket and led by a 6-4 score with just under 18 minutes to play in the first half. West Chester did not trail for long, countering with a 10-2 run, erasing the early deficit and leading 14-8 in the second half's early stages. After retaking the lead, West Chester would never trail again, stretching the lead to 29-20 with 6:32 to play before carrying a 42-36 lead into the halftime break after closing the first half on a 9-5 run over the last two minutes of action.
To open the second half, ESU pulled back within two just over a minute into the half before a 7-0 run by the Golden Rams, punctuated by a three-point play by Walker, gave WCU a 50-41 lead with 16:32 remaining in the game. Lakeem McAliley, who finished the game second on the team in scoring with 15 points, halted the run with a pair of makes at the free throw line, but West Chester countered quickly with another 7-3 run to take a 57-46 lead over its nationally-ranked hosts. This run helped West Chester take its largest lead of the game with a little over 10 minutes to play in regulation (63-48) after a 2-for-2 trip to the line by McGee.
ESU rallied back with a 13-5 run over the next three minutes of action, pulling to within seven (68-61) after a turnaround jumper by McAliley. The East Stroudsburg comeback bid continued down the stretch as the Warriors trailed by just four (81-77) with under two minutes to play after a jumper by the Warriors leading scorer, Jaelen McGlone but West Chester closed out the game with a 5-for-8 effort at the line in the final minute of regulation to hold off ESU in the 86-81 victory.
McGlone led East Stroudsburg in scoring with 18 points, while the tandem of McAliley and Carlos Pepin each recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds apiece. Mike Millsip finished with 12 points of his own, and Justin Paz chipped in 10 as the final Warriors in double figures.
West Chester shot well from the field, shooting 51.7 % (31-of-60) while going 4-for-11 (36.4 %) from deep and 20-of-30 (66.7 %) from the line in the road win. For its part, ESU shot just 39.7 % (25-of-63) from the field and 33.3 % (10-of-30) from three while also shooting 84.0 % (21-of-25) from the line in the setback.
As has been well documented throughout the year, rebounding success has had a positive correlation for West Chester throughout the year, and Saturday was no exception as the Golden Rams ended the game with a 39-32 advantage on the glass, improving to 11-2 in games where it out rebounds its opponent.
The rebounding advantage led to 12 second-chance points for West Chester to go along with a 44-26 lead in points in the paint. The West Chester bench, led by a trio of players in double figures in Purnell Jr. Smith, and Manigo, was a significant key in the victory as they combined to outscore the ESU bench by a 38-20 margin.
Up Next:
West Chester will have little time to celebrate tonight's triumph as the team returns to action on Monday night vs the only other PSAC East team to defeat ESU so far this season in Shepherd inside Hollinger Field House beginning at 7:30 p.m.
