WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University men's basketball team (4-3) returns home on Saturday afternoon to host Goldey-Beacom (5-3) at 1 p.m. in Hollinger Field House in the third and final game of a three-game homestand. Following Saturday's non-league finale, West Chester will play just three more times in December, with its next home game against Clarion not coming until December 30, with the opening tip in that matchup set for 3 p.m.
SERIES INFORMATION
The Golden Rams hold a 9-1 lead in the all-time series against the Lightning, winning each of the last five meetings, including an 82-74 in the 2019 season, the last meeting between the two sides. West Chester is also looking to complete an unbeaten homestand, entering Saturday afternoon after two wins last weekend over Slippery Rock and Edinboro on Friday and Saturday.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester enters play on Saturday afternoon riding a three-game winning streak, which started with a road victory over Chestnut Hill on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving before defeating Slippery Rock and Edinboro in Hollinger last week in the first crossover weekend of the season. Most recently, West Chester enters play following an 80-71 victory over Edinboro last Saturday afternoon. West Chester trailed for much of the opening five minutes, falling behind by six early, but erased this deficit quickly with a 7-0 run and never trailed again en route to the nine-point victory.
Elijah Allen finished one point shy of his career high with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting as West Chester led by as many as 14 just after the midway point of the second half. West Chester shot 48.3 % from the field for the game, including an even 50.0 % in the second half to return above .500 for the first time since the season's opening night.
Allen leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game, while
Joshua Walker and
Jordan Kellier rank second and third, averaging 12.9 and 11.4 points per game, respectively. Kellier also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 9.9 rebounds per game, which ranks 17th in Division II entering the weekend.
As a team, West Chester enters the weekend averaging 73.4 points per game, shooting 42.1 % from the field, including an uncharacteristically low 25.7 % from three-point territory, averaging just over five makes per game. Thanks in part to the efforts of Kellier, West Chester continues to be a strong rebounding team, averaging 38.0 rebounds per game for a margin of +6.0 on the year. The Golden Rams work in the paint has been critical to their success this year, earning all four wins (overall record of 4-1) when outscoring its opponents inside. In the five games that West Chester has accomplished this goal, the Golden Rams have outscored opponents 179-122, averaging 35.8 points per game compared to 24.4 per game by the opposition.
SCOUTING GOLDEY-BEACOM
Goldey Beacom enters play with a record of 5-3 on the year, riding a three-game winning streak of its own, including a 110-78 victory over Kutztown to open the winning streak on November 21. Most recently, Goldey-Beacom posted an 83-76 win over Lincoln after holding an 11-point (36-25) lead at the halftime break. Zyon Marsh led the team in scoring in the victory, finishing with 19 points, while Caleb Bates added 13 to go along with 10 from Nazim Derry, which helped him reach the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career. The Lightning shot a solid 49.2 % from the field on Wednesday night, including a 33.3 % effort from three-point territory and a 78.3 % effort at the line to help guide Goldey-Beacom past Lincoln.
Entering play on Saturday afternoon, Derry leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.0 points per game. At the same time, Marsh is second, averaging 14.9 points per game and leading the squad in rebounding, averaging 7.9 boards per game. As a team, GBC averages 87.3 points per game, which ranks 30th in DII, while shooting 49.4 % from the field, including a 41.3 % effort from beyond the arc.
Up Next:
West Chester will not return to action again until December 18 and 19 against Mercyhurst and Gannon in what will be the team's final action against until December 30 against Clarion. West Chester will not return to Hollinger until December 30 against Clarion at 3 p.m. before heading to California (Pa.) for its final crossover game of the league on January 3, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
