MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- After earning a thrilling win at home on Monday night vs Shepherd, which saw West Chester (13-5, 8-4) come all the way back from down by as many as 10 in the first half and seven in the late stages of the game, the Golden Rams ready for their next opponent in Millersville (10-8, 7-5) on the road tomorrow night at 7:30.
Series Information
West Chester and Millersville have met over 200 times in their histories, with WCU holding a 105-101 lead in the all-time series despite dropping all three meetings a season ago. West Chester fell to Millersville twice in the regular season before dropping a Quarterfinal at Millersville by a 70-54 final to bring the 2021-22 season to a close.
West Chester faced Millersville for the third time last year in the PSAC Tournament, falling to the Marauders by a 70-54 final. West Chester jumped out to an early 14-1 lead and led for much of the first half before Millersville began its comeback, outscoring West Chester 26-15 to trail 29-27 heading into the half. In the second half, it was all Millersville as the Marauders outscored West Chester 20-11 to start the half, eventually leading by as many as 18 en route to the victory.
Robert Smith led the way in scoring for West Chester, finishing with 16 points, while
Kyle McGee added 14 of his own in the season-ending setback.
Flock Talk
West Chester jumped out to a nine-point lead early on in the contest, holding a 16-7 lead and holding Shepherd to just 18.8 % shooting from the field through the first 10 minutes. The next 10 minutes, however, told a very different story as the Rams closed the half out on a 33-27 run, thanks to a blistering 12-of-15 performance from the field and a 6-of-8 effort from three-point range, led by 18 points for Dan McClain Corley as he ended the first half with 21 points. With a 21-point first half in the books, McClain Corley looked as if he might threaten to become the highest-scoring opposing player vs the Golden Rams, a mantle currently held Rashon Johnson of Shippensburg (28). However, West Chester had other ideas, holding him scoreless in the second half and engineering an impressive comeback, which saw the Golden Rams erase a seven-point deficit with under three minutes to play. Trailing 67-60 in the final minutes of regulation, West Chester went on a 10-2 run to erase the deficit and eventually win the game on a buzzer-beating jumper by
Joshua Walker as time expired.
Jamil Manigo led the way with 20 points, while Walker finished with a double-double of 13 points/10 rebounds after scoring each of the game's last five points for WCU.
West Chester has gotten off to a strong start in 2023, going 6-1 since the start of the New Year, with the lone loss coming at Shippensburg earlier in January. This strong month is a great rebound from a year ago when WCU went just 3-5 in the month of February. A major key to this strong start has been rebounding, as West Chester is first in the PSAC in rebounding (40.9/g) and first in offensive rebounding (13.6/g). West Chester also ranks 14th in all of Division II in offensive rebounding, which has translated into an average of 14.9 second-chance points per game, outscoring its opponents in this category in 14 of 18 games. Rebounding and success have gone hand in hand for West Chester this year, as the team is 11-2 when outrebounding its opponent while going 2-3 in games where it is outrebounded.
Scouting Millersville
Millersville enters play on Wednesday night, riding a three-game winning streak, including a win over Shippensburg on Monday night. In this game, former Golden Ram
Matt Dade led the way with 15 points as Millersville used a big first half, which saw the Marauders jump out to a seven-point halftime lead to hold on for a 69-64 PSAC East victory. Despite the win, Millersville did not shoot particularly well on Monday night, shooting just 39.6 % from the field and 22.2 % from three, both of which are well below the Marauders season averages of 43.9 % and 31.4 %. The Marauders were also outrebounded by a 34-26 margin; however, they did win the turnover battle by a 16-9 margin, replicating the success they have found in this department throughout much of the season. While Kieth Mency leads the team in steals on the year, averaging 1.5 per game, it was Ryan Daivs who came away with a team-high three steals in the win last night, while Mency led the way in rebounding with five.
For the year, Dade leads the team in both scoring (11.5/g) and rebounding (4.4/g) to go along with a 1.3 assist per game average on the season. Jahme Ested has shouldered the load as the primary facilitator for the Marauders, leading the way in assists with 2.7 per game after logging three last time out. Sophomore forward Drew Stover has also provided depth this season, ranking second on the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 10.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game to supplement the contributions of Dade.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday afternoon at home against Bloomsburg beginning at 4 p.m. in the second game of a special Alumni-Day doubleheader inside Hollinger Field House.
