KUTZTOWN, Pa.- After earning its first PSAC East win of the year over Mansfield on Wednesday night, the West Chester men's basketball team (9-4, 4-3) returned to action on Saturday afternoon at Kutztown (4-8, 4-3) and led for all but a minute en route to a convincing 72-57 victory over its Eastern Division rivals.
West Chester was in control throughout the game on Saturday evening, trailing by only a point for just 1:09 of the first half before quickly restoring order with an 8-2 run, eventually leading by as many as 17 late in the second half en route to its third victory in a row.
West Chester saw five players score in double figures once again, marking the second time in the last three games and the third time this season that West Chester has accomplished this, led by a double-double from
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) as he finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists while
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) matched him with 16 points of his own.
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) finished with 11 points of his own with many of those 11 points coming late in the second half as he helped West Chester put Kutztown away and quiet any thought of a Kutztown comeback while
Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) and Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) each finished with 10 points as well.
For Barrett, his 10-point afternoon carried extra-special meaning as he scored his 1000
th collegiate point in the win, thanks to a late hook shot in the second half. Barrett's 1000 points came from a variety of places, scoring over 600 of his 1000 at Northampton Community College while scoring 92 during a one-year stint with Chestnut Hill and the remainder coming as a Golden Ram. This is the third straight game in which Barrett has scored in double figures as the senior forward registered a double-double vs both Seton Hill and Mansfield, finishing with 20/12 and 11/11 in each of those victories before adding 10 points this afternoon.
For Kutztown, Kyree Generett led the team in scoring once again, finishing with 12 points in the victory as one of two Golden Bears in double figures.
West Chester jumped out to an early 8-3 lead before a 10-4 run by Kutztown gave the Golden Bears their final lead of the contest 13-12 with 11:28 remaining in the first half. The Golden Rams countered quickly with an 8-2 run to take a 20-15 lead with 8:39 to play in the opening half following a layup by
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) off a feed from
Moro Osumanu (Reading, Pa./Reading).
With the lead back in hand, West Chester began to extend its lead, stretching the advantage to as many as 13 points (36-23) late in the first half off a make from
Jamil Manigo (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) before a late three by Kutztown cut the West Chester lead back down to 10 (36-26) heading into the halftime break.
Early in the second half, West Chester stretched its lead back to 13 points (44-31) with 16:21 remaining after a made jumper by
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg). Over the next five minutes, Kutztown trimmed the lead back down to four, making it a 46-42 game after a made layup by Kyle Whippen. This as close as West Chester would allow its hosts to get as a five-point run by Smith with 5:30 to play gave West Chester the largest lead of the game at that point of 14 points (60-46) with 5:31 to play.
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) extended the lead to 15 with 3:46 to play in regulation, drilling a left-wing three, upping his point total for the game to 14 as part of his first double-double of the year as the junior guard also came away with 11 rebounds in the victory. Late in the game, with a victory imminent,
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) notched his 1000
th collegiate-point with a hook shot just outside the key, coming as the final Golden Ram basket of the game, stretching the lead to 72-55 before a pair of late free throws by Kutztown made the score 72-57, which proved to be the final inside Keystone Arena.
As a team, West Chester shot 43.9 % (29-of-66) from the field and 30.4 % (7-of-23) from three-point territory while also going a nearly perfect 7-of-8 (87.5 %) from the line. For its part, Kutztown shot 36.8 % (21-of-57) from the field and 29.4 % (5-of-17) from deep while shooting just over 50 % (52.6 %) 10-of-19 at the line.
As has been a key throughout much of the season, West Chester won the rebounding battle with a 45-35 advantage on the glass, resulting in an 11-3 advantage in second-chance points while also ending the game with a 11-6 lead in points off turnovers and a 14-10 lead in points off the break despite a -1 loss in the turnover battle.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action at home on Wednesday evening vs Shippensburg beginning at 7 p.m. before heading out on a three-game road trip, starting with a matchup at Clarion next Saturday afternoon.
