WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) scored a season-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting while also corralling six rebounds to help lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (3-3, 1-0) to an 84-82 victory over Slippery Rock (1-4, 0-1) on Friday night.
Neither side led by more than nine points throughout the game, which featured seven ties and four lead changes, but it was a late 9-0 scoring run by the Golden Rams thanks in part to six points, which gave the Golden Rams a 73-64 lead with just over six minutes to play in regulation. West Chester would never trail again after this run. However, Slippery Rock showed it was not interested in going away quietly, evening the score at 74-74 after a 10-1 run and pulled back to within a point multiple times. Still, the Golden Rams were able to answer each salvo with a basket of their own, holding for the two-point victory.
Following a 1-for-2 trip to the line by Walker with seven seconds remaining, the Rock had a final chance to tie or win, but a tremendous defensive play by Walker broke up a Slippery Rock transition and eventually led to the visitors not getting a shot off as West Chester held on for the 84-82 victory.
West Chester ended the game with five players in double figures as
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) scored 16 points once again to go along with 15 from
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) and 12 points each from
Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski) and
Jordan Kellier (Kingston, Jamaica/Redemption Christian). Purnell Jr., who also led the team in assists with four, scored a team-high five points for West Chester in the final six minutes of regulation, including a beautiful three-point play after being fouled on a late jumper in the lane to help seal the victory. Kellier, who ranks among the Nation's leaders in rebounding, picked up his team-leading second double-double of the season, finishing with 12 rebounds, including eight on the defensive glass in the victory.
West Chester got out to an early lead, surging out to a 12-6 advantage just over six minutes into the contest and led by as many as nine, but the Rock was tough throughout the night, closing out the first half on an 8-2 run to take a 40-37 lead into the halftime break, setting up the thrilling second-half comeback.
The Golden Rams, who have found themselves on the wrong end of a second-half comeback a few too many times this season, put together its best second-half effort of the season, scoring a season-high 47 points on 46.4 % (13-of-28) shooting from the field, while also connecting on 20-of-24 (83.3 %) of its attempts at the free throw line.
West Chester ended the game shooting 40.9 % (27-of-66) from the field and 26.3 % (5-of-19) from deep, while also shooting a solid 78.1 % (25-of-32) from the line in the victory.
Slippery Rock, who finished with four players in double figures, led by 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting from Ike Herster, shot 42.1 % (24-of-57) from the field and 33.3 % (9-of-27) from beyond the arc in the loss, while also going 25-of-33 (75.8 %) at the charity stripe. Jomo Goings and Maceo Austin finished with 13 and 11, while Ja'Mier Fletcher added 10 of his own to accompany a team-best eight rebounds in the setback.
West Chester ended the game with a 15-7 lead in points off turnovers, thanks in part to a plus-seven edge in the turnover battle, while also finishing the game with a 34-28 lead in points in the paint and a 17-14 lead in points off the break. The Rock's bench outscored West Chester's second unit by a 33-9 margin, largely thanks to the 20-point effort by Herster.
Mirko Bramati (Bologna, Italy/St. Thomas More) led the Golden Ram's second unit in scoring, finishing with seven points and three offensive rebounds to help West Chester return to .500 entering play on Saturday afternoon.
Slippery Rock also ended the game with a 42-39 lead in rebounding, which translated into a 13-10 lead in second-chance points, despite West Chester holding a 15-14 lead in offensive rebounds on Friday evening.
Up Next:
West Chester will look to make its way back above .500 for the first time since the opening weekend of the season tomorrow against Edinboro beginning at 3 p.m. Tomorrow's matchup against Edinboro will also be the middle game of a three-game homestand for West Chester as the Golden Rams will welcome Goldey-Beacom to Hollinger on December 9 at 1 p.m. for the non-league finale.
