WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) hit perhaps the shot of his West Chester career to this point, drilling a buzzer-beating jumper from just inside the arc off a rebound to lift West Chester (13-5, 8-4) to a thrilling 70-69 victory over Shepherd (10-8, 7-5) in Hollinger on Monday night.
Despite leading by nine at the second media timeout of the first half, West Chester trailed by as many as 10 late in the first half courtesy of a stellar first-half effort by Shepherd guard Dan McClain-Corley. West Chester, who would not lead again until there was a under a minute to play in regulation, put together an incredible second-half, outscoring Shepherd 37-29 which included holding the Shepherd star scoreless and closed the final five minutes of regulation on a 10-4 run to earn a thrilling victory over Shepherd in PSAC East play.
West Chester found itself trailing 65-60 with just five minutes to play after a big driving layup by
Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski Area), however, Shepherd eventually extended its lead back to seven 67-60 with under three minutes to play after a brief scoreless drought by the Golden Rams. West Chester halted this drought with a successful trip to the line by
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) before Smith brought West Chester back within a pair with 2:16 to play after a successful three-point play, drawing a foul on a driving layup.
With a chance to tie the score at 67-67 with 1:36 to play, Walker made just one of two from the line, however, the sophomore forward was far from finished as he would score the final five points of the game for the Golden Rams, including the clutch jumper as time expired. First though, Walker gave West Chester a lead back, which the team had not held since there was 5:49 to play in the first half with a 2-for-2 trip to the line with 58 seconds to play, capping an impressive 8-0 run by the Golden Rams as WCU held a 68-67 lead. Shepherd retook the lead after a good jumper by Phillip Jordan, which gave him 20 points on the evening to tie for second in the game in scoring.
West Chester got the ball back with under 30 seconds to play, appearing as if it would have the chance for the last shot but after a pair of misses, Shepherd went to the line in the closing seconds with a chance to put the game away. Shepherd missed the front end of the 1-and-1, its first free-throw miss of the evening, sending West Chester racing the other way with under five seconds to play.
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) had a three-point shot with four seconds to play just rim out, but Purnell Jr. secured the rebound, just his second of the evening and kicked it out to Walker, who elevated and released mere tenths of a second before the clock hit zero and drained the jumper, sending West Chester and the Hollinger Fieldhouse faithful into a state of pure jubilation as the Golden Rams completed the comeback victory.
Jamil Manigo (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) finished with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including a 2-for-5 effort from beyond the arc while Smith and McGee each finished with 12, including some big plays by both in the final two minutes as West Chester mounted and completed its comeback. Walker, the final Golden Ram in double figures, was also the lone Golden Ram to record a double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds, scoring each of the last five points for West Chester to complete the comeback.
For Shepherd, McClain-Corley, who was held scoreless in the second half, finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting while Jordan came away with 20 and Jon Preston and Jarrod Robinson each added 11 in the setback.
West Chester got out to a 16-7 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, which would prove to be its largest lead of the first half thanks to a 40.0 % field goal percentage and five early points from
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover).
After holding Shepherd to just 18.8 % shooting from the field in the 10 minutes, the Rams found their groove in the second 10 minutes of the first half, shooting a blistering 12-of-15 from the field and 6-of-8 from the field led by 18 points from Dan McClain-Corley, who ended the first half with a game-high 21 points. This late-half surge allowed Shepherd to erase the nine-point deficit and lead by as many as 10, carrying a 40-33 lead into the halftime break.
Manigo was the lone Golden Ram in double figures in the first half, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting, including a 1-for-3 effort from beyond the arc.
As a team, West Chester shot 40.0 % (12-of-30) through the first 20 minutes, including a 4-of-14 (28.6 %) effort from deep while Shepherd, thanks to its late-half surge shot 48.4 % (15-of-31) and 7-of-18 (38.9 %) from three while also going a perfect 3-for-3 from the stripe.
Through the first eight minutes of the second half, West Chester and Shepherd traded baskets with West Chester remaining eight points behind the Rams (50-44) with 11:50 to play in regulation.
Manigo led the team in scoring through the first eight-and-a-half minutes, culminating with a turnaround jumper as West Chester cut the deficit to 52-46 before another media timeout, in conjunction with a 30-second timeout by the Golden Rams.
West Chester pulled back two within two with nine minutes to play after back-to-back three's by Manigo and McGee
, making the score 56-54. As the half continued, Shepherd eventually extended its lead back to as many as seven with under three minutes to go before West Chester came through with its late-game heroics to pull off the comeback victory.
West Chester shot 41.3 % (26-of-63) from the field and 21.4 % (6-of-28) from three-point range while also shooting 75.0 % (12-of-16) from the line, including a 6-for-7 effort at the line in the final three minutes to help West Chester earn the comeback victory.
For Shepherd, the Rams shot 47.2 % (25-of-53) from the field and 37.0 % (10-of-27) from three while going 9-of-10 from the line with the lone miss coming in the waning seconds, opening the door for Walker's late-game heroics. Shepherd's 29 second-half points, which included a 3-for-9 effort from three-point range and a 10-for-22 field-goal shooting performance, marked the second lowest second-half point total by any opponent so far this season, matching the 29 points, which West Chester held currently unbeaten IUP to early in December.
For just the second time this season, West Chester picked up a victory despite a 35-33 loss in the rebounding battle, although the Golden Rams still managed to end the game with a 12-5 lead in second-chance points, none bigger than the game-winning bucket by Walker. West Chester also committed just four turnovers in the victory while forcing the Rams into 12, including five by McClain-Corley, three of which came in the second half.
This plus-eight advantage in turnovers led to a 9-5 lead in points off turnovers while West Chester also ended the game with a 24-16 lead in points in the paint and a 36-15 advantage in points off the bench as Walker and McGee were the lone starters in double figures in the victory.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Wednesday night at Millersville beginning at 7:30 p.m.
