BLOOMSBURG, Pa.- Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) finished with 22 points to lead West Chester (21-7, 16-6) in scoring as the sophomore guard helped the Golden Rams erase a 20-point second-half deficit to earn a 92-89 OT victory over Bloomsburg (1-25, 1-21 PSAC) to conclude the regular season.
Tonight's comeback, which saw West Chester trail by 20 (78-58) with under six minutes to play in regulation, marks the largest comeback completed by the Golden Rams in recent memory, surpassing a comeback during the 2015 season, which saw West Chester erase a 15-point deficit in a 76-75 home win against Lock Haven.
This victory, combined with its 15 other PSAC victories this season, after playing a rigorous PSAC schedule, including crossover matchups vs Western Division powers, Mercyhurst, IUP, and Pitt-Johnstown, also enables West Chester to claim a share of the PSAC East Regular season title, although the Golden Rams will be the No. 2 seed in the PSAC Tournament behind Shippensburg, who captured the top seed by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreak. This marks the first time since 2006 in which West Chester has finished the regular season with at least of share of the PSAC East Regular Season title. 16 conference victories is also the most since the 2018-19 season, which was also the last time that West Chester had hosted a home PSAC Quarterfinal. The team eventually advanced to the Conference semifinals and NCAA Tournament at the end of that strong season, which saw the team finish with an overall record of 22-9.
West Chester closed the second half on a 24-4 run over the final 5:35 of regulation, shooting an impressive 9-of-15 from the field, led by eight points from
Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) and another seven by Smith. This comeback allowed West Chester to force overtime for the second game in a row.
In overtime, West Chester and Bloomsburg traded baskets through the early stages, with the Huskies inching out to a two-point lead twice before an
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) layup with under four minutes to play evened the score at 86-86. With the score tied up at 86-86, West Chester would never trail again, closing the game on a 6-3 run, beginning with another layup by Barrett and a layup by Smith to put West Chester in front 90-86.
Matt Bengel, who led all scorers with 28 in the loss, hit a pull-up three with just over a minute to play, cutting the deficit down to 90-89 with 1:09 left in overtime. The score remained locked at 90-89 with under 30 seconds to play before
Kyle McGee (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's of the Assumption) drew a foul and made his way to the stripe, sinking both free throws to give West Chester a 92-89 lead with 29 seconds to play in regulation. As the waning seconds ticked away, Bloomsburg had the final shot, a chance to force double overtime, but the shot was off its mark, falling harmlessly away into the waiting arms of
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) as West Chester survived the Huskies upset bid on Saturday afternoon.
Smith was one of four Golden Rams in double figures in the win, as Allen finished with 20 while Walker had 19 and McGee had 15 to help lead West Chester to its improbable comeback victory on Saturday afternoon. McGee finished with another double-double, adding 12 rebounds, seven assists, and six steals to his 15 points, helping key the Golden Ram comeback. Barrett, who finished with six points, did well on the boards as well, coming away with 10 rebounds, while Walker finished with nine rebounds of his own in the come-from-behind victory. This rebounding effort helped West Chester finish the game with a 53-44 lead, including a 22-11 lead on the offensive glass, translating into a 24-11 lead in second-chance points.
West Chester also ended the game with a 42-34 lead in points in the paint, a 23-22 lead in points off turnovers (25-15 (+10) advantage in turnover battle), a 23-19 lead in points off the break, and a 10-6 lead in points off the bench in the comeback.
After shooting just 32.6 % from the field in the first half, West Chester stepped up its shooting late in the second half and into overtime, shooting 43.6 % in the second half, including a 9-for-15 effort in the final five-and-a-half minutes and 4-for-7 (57.1 %) from the field in the extra session. This performance elevated the team's shooting percentage for the afternoon to 39.3 % (35-of-89) while shooting 7-for-28 (25.0 %) from three and 15-of-22 (68.2 %) from the line in the triumph.
West Chester led only briefly in the first half of basketball, holding a lead of three points or less for just over five minutes in the opening stanza. Bloomsburg closed out the half with an impressive run, which included a 13-0 spurt late in the half to carry a commanding 45-34 lead into the halftime break.
Entering play, West Chester had mounted a comeback after trailing at the half twice, although the Golden Rams had not yet overcome a deficit as large as this, previously overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit vs Shepherd and an eight-point deficit vs Lock Haven.
Early in the second half, West Chester went to work, opening the second half on a 14-4 run, led by nine points from Allen, as WCU trailed by just one 49-48, with under 15 minutes to play. Bloomsburg countered with a 7-0 run, led by four points from Jake Nelson and a made three by Desmond Freeman, which put the Huskies back in front 56-48. West Cheser answered with another quick 5-0 run, courtesy of a pull-up jumper by McGee and an and-one driving layup by Smith, which allowed West Chester to pull back to within three (56-53) with 12:55 to play in regulation.
Hoping to put West Chester away and exact revenge on the Golden Rams for a defeat in Hollinger earlier this season, Bloomsburg went on a 22-5 run over the next seven minutes, led by nine points from Louie Wild and another eight more from Bengel as Bloomsburg pulled ahead to a 78-58 lead with 5:35 to play.
This deficit would not last long as West Chester began its improbable comeback quickly, scoring five points in less than a minute after a step-back by McGee and a three from Smith, sparking the 24-4 run to close the game. West Chester ended the game on an 8-0 run, keyed by four points from Smith along with a pair of perfect trips to the line by
Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski) and Allen, but it was Walker, who had already scored six of the Golden Rams 22 points during the run, who completed the comeback and put an exclamation mark on top, driving home a thunderous dunk with 40 seconds to play off a feed from Allen, which tied the game at 80-80. Both West Chester and Bloomsburg had a chance to win it in regulation, but neither side was able to hit the game-winning basket, thus, delivering overtime for the second game in a row and the third time this season for West Chester.
In the extra frame, West Chester avoided another double-OT thriller as it had on Wednesday night against Millersville, outscoring the Huskies 10-7, including a 6-3 run to end the game with a narrow 92-89 victory.
Bengel led Bloomsburg in scoring with an impressive 28-point effort, which is tied for the second most points an opposing player has scored against WCU this season, trailing only the 33-point performance by
Matt Dade in the win over Millersville on Wednesday. Bengel was one of four Huskies in double figures in the setback, as Jake Nelson finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds, Wild had 17, and Freeman added 12 in the loss.
Bloomsburg shot an even 50.0 % from the field in the first half but cooled off considerably as the game progressed, eventually shooting 42.0 % (29-of-6) from the field and 37.5 % (9-of-24) from three-point range. Bloomsburg shot well from the line throughout the afternoon, shooting 22-of-27 (81.5 %) on the day, after going 8-for-9 from the stripe in the first half, 10-of-14 in the second, and a perfect 4-for-4 in OT. The Huskies hit 16 field goals in the first half, shooting 16-for-32 from the floor before making just 13 the remainder of the game, going 12-for-33 in the second half and 1-of-4 in overtime as West Chester rallied back to steal a win over its hosts to close out the regular season.
Up Next:
West Chester will be a two seed in the PSAC Tournament and will await the winner of ESU/Shepherd in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday night in Hollinger Field House.
