WEST CHESTER, Pa.-After an impressive victory over Bloomsburg, which saw West Chester (14-6, 9-5) turn in one of its best offensive games of the season, the Golden Rams have shifted their collective attention to their next opponent in Kutztown (5-14, 5-9) on Wednesday night beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Hollinger.
Series Information
West Chester enters play holding a 78-41 lead over the Golden Bears in the all-time series, having won each of the last two following a road victory over Kutztown earlier this season. With a win on Wednesday night, West Chester would sweep the season series for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
In the first game of the series between West Chester and Kutztown earlier this season, West Chester trailed for just one minute early in the first half before retaking the lead with an 8-2 run and never trailing again in the victory. West Chester went on to win by a final of 72-57 with its largest lead of the game, 17 points coming in the final moments of regulation.
Elijah Allen and
Kyle McGee tied for the team lead in scoring with 16 points each to help lead WCU to the road victory.
Flock Talk
Following a setback at the hands of Millersville, which halted a four-game winning streak on Wednesday night, the West Chester men's basketball team bounced back in a big way on Saturday afternoon, ending the month of January with a 102-73 drubbing of Bloomsburg in front of a strong crowd inside Hollinger Field House. West Chester ended the game with five players in double figures, including four of the five starters, as the Golden Rams trailed only briefly in the opening minutes of regulation en route to the 29-point win. West Chester led by as many as 31 in the closing seconds in the impressive victory.
Elijah Allen led the way with 16 points, while Anthony Purnell Jr and
Joshua Walker each added 15 in the victory.
Kyle McGee narrowly missed becoming the first Golden Ram in school history to record a triple-double, finishing with nine points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in the win. West Chester shot an impressive 50.7 % from the field and 42.9 % from three-point territory while also shooting 90.0 % (18-of-20) from the line in the win.
Newcomers
Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) and
Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski Area) have both stepped into larger roles during the Golden Rams recent winning streak, with both players scoring in double figures in three of the last four games while Walker has scored in double figures in seven of the last 10 games. Over the last 10 games, Walker has averaged 11.1 points per game over the last 10, including a career night at East Stroudsburg, finishing with 18 points and 13 rebounds before following this up with a 13-point effort against Shepherd, including his buzzer-beating jumper to lift West Chester to a victory in that game as well. With this stretch of play, which included three double-doubles, Walker now averages 9.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, ranking fifth in scoring and second in rebounding. Purnell Jr. has also turned in a strong stretch of play as of late, averaging 10.8 points per game over the last four games, including 15 points vs Bloomsburg on Saturday, which matched his career high from earlier in the year at UPJ.
Rebounding and success have gone hand in hand for West Chester this year, as the team is 12-2 when outrebounding its opponent while going 2-4 in games where it is outrebounded. As a team, West Chester is first in the PSAC in rebounding (40.6/g) and first in offensive rebounding (13.7/g). West Chester also ranks 13th 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 20 games.
Scouting Kutztown
Kutztown enters play on Wednesday night in the midst of a six-game losing streak following an 82-73 loss at Shepherd on Saturday afternoon. Kutztown found itself trailing by seven at the half and tried to mount a late comeback, but a 21.1 % shooting effort from beyond the arc, coupled with a 42-37 loss in the rebounding battle, proved to be too much for the Golden Bears to overcome against the Rams. Jalen Bryant, who ranks first on the team in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game, led the way on Saturday night, finishing with 22 points, while Robert Tucker, the team's leading rebounder (9.6/g), came away with 10 in the setback. Kutztown, a 35.5 % three-point shooting team on the year, knocked down just four from beyond the arc on Saturday afternoon, with Bryant accounting for two of these makes as part of his 22-point afternoon. Kutztown also shot 39.7 % from the field on Saturday afternoon, down from its season average of 45.0 %, while also shooting a solid 82.6 % from the line, up from the season average of 76.7 %. Kutztown committed just nine turnovers in the setback and forced Shepherd into nine as well, finishing the game even in the turnover battle, which is an improvement over both the season average of 14.1 and the season margin of -3.0 per game.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday afternoon at Mansfield beginning at 3 p.m. before heading to Shippensburg on Monday night for an 8 p.m. tip in its second and final Monday night matchup of the regular season.
