SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V.-After earning a crucial victory over East Stroudsburg on Wednesday night, giving West Chester (17-7, 12-6) not only its first sweep of the Warriors since 2008-09 but also thrusting the Golden Rams right back into the conversation for one of the top seeds in the upcoming PSAC Tournament, West Chester has shifted its attention to a matchup at Shepherd on Wednesday night beginning at 7:30.
Series Information
West Chester enters play holding a 7-3 lead in the all-time series over Shepherd, including wins in each of the last three meetings, all of which came inside Hollinger Field House. West Chester is 0-2 at Shepherd since the Rams joined the PSAC ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.
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 by 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.
Flock Talk
West Chester returns to action for the first time in a week after earning a historic victory over East Stroudsburg last Wednesday night by a 106-98 final inside Hollinger Field House. This win, which marked the first time that West Chester has swept ESU in 14 years, also marked the most points that West Chester has scored against ESU in its history against the Warriors. In addition to the team records,
Kyle McGee, who finished with 11 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, also became the first player in school history to record a triple-double, while
Elijah Allen poured in a career-high 29 to lead West Chester past the Warriors. West Chester trailed only briefly, falling behind by just in four points in the early going before erasing the deficit with an 8-0 run and eventually extended its lead to as many as 19 early in the second half. West Chester scored 56 points in the first half on the way to the victory, marking the most points the Golden Rams have scored in the opening half all season before scoring 50 in the second half, which is just the fifth time in PSAC East play this season that West Chester has scored north of 40 points in the second half.
This win also allowed West Chester to punch its ticket back to the PSAC Tournament, marking the 11th year in a row in which the Golden Rams have qualified for the Conference Tournament. In each of the previous 10 seasons, West Chester has advanced to at least the Quarterfinal round of the Tournament, with the team's last Semifinal appearance coming during the 2018-19 season.
Allen had a breakout game last Wednesday, scoring a career-high 29, which came at a great time for the sophomore guard as it allowed him to snap a cold streak that had seen him score below 10 points in each of three previous games with his last double-digit scoring effort coming with a 16-point effort against Bloomsburg on January 28
th. Hitting shots from three-point range has been vital for West Chester this year as the team is 11-2 in games in which the Golden Rams make more threes than its opponent. Last Wednesday night was no exception to this as the team shot 11-of-26 from deep, behind a 5-for-10 effort from Allen, ending the game with an 11-9 advantage in made threes, which led to the impressive 106-98 victory.
Scouting Shepherd
Shepherd enters play on Wednesday night following a 65-37 victory over Bloomsburg on Saturday night behind an 18-point effort by Aidan Hughley to top the Huskies. The first half was a true defensive battle as the two teams combined for just 42 points through the opening 20 minutes of play, with Shepherd mustering only 29 while holding Bloomsburg to 13 to take a comfortable 16-point lead into the half. In the second half, Shepherd, who shot 43.4 % from the field in the victory, opened up its lead a bit more, outscoring Bloomsburg 36-24 to cruise to the 28-point home victory. Jon Preston and Phillip Jordan tied for the team lead in rebounding with eight each, while Dan McClain-Corley, held scoreless, led the way with six assists as Shepherd rolled past Bloomsburg.
Holding McClain Corley scoreless is no small feat for an opposing team, as the Rams junior guard leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.7 points per game, while ranking second in assists, averaging 2.2 per game. Preston leads the team in rebounding on the year, averaging 6.8 per game, while also ranking second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.5 points per game, just ahead of Jordan, who is third, averaging 11.4 per game. Preston also leads the team in steals per game, averaging 1.0 per game, while Jordan ranks first on the squad in assists, dishing out an average of 3.4 helpers per game.
Saturday's 65-point effort is right on line with season averages for Shepherd as the Rams average 67.9 points per game while holding opponents to 65.9 per game, shooting 43.5 % from the field and 35.5 from three-point range entering the final two weeks of the regular season.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday afternoon at home against Lock Haven beginning at 3 p.m. in what will also be Senior Day for the Golden Rams as West Chester is set to honor
Dame Wall,
Eli Barrett, and
Marcus Littles in a special pregame ceremony.
