WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Following a road win over Mansfield on Saturday afternoon, the West Chester men's basketball team (16-6, 11-5) has shifted its attention to a road test at East-leading Shippensburg (13-8, 11-4) on Monday evening beginning at 8 p.m.
Series Info
West Chester enters play holding a 73-36 lead in the all-time series, although West Chester dropped the most recent matchup in the series, falling by a 76-61 final in early January. This loss sparked a four-game winning streak for West Chester, which included a victory over ESU, whom Ship was just swept by on Saturday afternoon. Shippensburg has won six of the last 10 matchups and has not lost to WCU at home since the 2015-16 season, which was part of a three-game winning streak for WCU.
In the first meeting vs Shippensburg, West Chester found itself behind early, trailing by 13 points just a few minutes into the contest before storming back to within a point and eventually retaking the lead, including holding a slim lead early in the second half. However, this second-half lead was short-lived, as Shippensburg countered with an impressive run of its own, erasing the deficit and eventually pulling away with a 17-point lead with 5:30 to play in regulation en route to a 76-61 victory over the Golden Rams.
Eli Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) continued his stellar run of play with his third double-double in four games, finishing with 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds to lead the Golden Rams in both categories.
Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) nearly set a new season and career-high in scoring, finishing with 14 points as the lone other Golden Ram in double figures, finishing just shy of his high of 15 that he recorded vs. Gannon earlier this season. The work by the Golden Rams big men was integral in helping the team stay close with Shippensburg throughout much of the game as many of the guards struggled from the field, shooting an uncharacteristic 8-of-34 as a collective in the setback.
Flock Talk
West Chester returned to action on Saturday afternoon at Mansfield looking to avoid the road upset it suffered a year ago. The Golden Rams got out to an early lead, taking a five-point lead just five minutes into the contest and continuing this lead throughout much of the first half before a 7-0 Mansfield run gave the Mounties a 22-20 lead late in the half. West Chester and Mansfield traded baskets down the stretch of the first half, but WCU closed the half on a 6-3 run to take a 31-30 lead into the half. Mansfield jumped out to an early second-half lead, but it was short-lived as West Chester would eventually put together one of its better second-half efforts of the season to pull away for a 78-68 victory, scoring 46 points in the second half.
Joshua Walker had a career day scoring the basketball, finishing with a career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds in the victory.
Walker has been on an impressive streak since the calendar moved to 2023, scoring in double figures in five of the last six games and in eight of the Golden Rams 11 games since the start of the New Year. This streak has included all four of the junior forward's four double-doubles on the year, including a career-high 23-point and 11-rebound effort in the road win over Mansfield on Saturday afternoon. For the year, Walker is averaging 10.1 points per game, averaging 12.3 points per game over his impressive 11-game stretch while also averaging 6.8 rebounds per game, including an average of 7.7 per game in the New Year.
West Chester is first in the PSAC in rebounding (40.5/g) and first in offensive rebounding (13.5/g). West Chester also ranks 14th in all of Division II in offensive rebounding, which has translated into an average of 14.9 second-chance points per game, outscoring its opponents in this category in 15 of 22 games. Rebounding and success have gone hand in hand for West Chester this year, as the team is 13-2 when outrebounding its opponent while going 3-4 in games where it is outrebounded.
Scouting Shippensburg
While Shippensburg has been tough to beat in East play this year, suffering just four Conference losses between East and Crossover play, East Stroudsburg has had the Raiders number this year, taking both ends of the season series in convincing fashion, including a 65-52 decision over the Raiders on Saturday night. Shippensburg, who will be looking to avoid a losing streak on Monday night, mustered just 21 points in the first half, one of its lowest first-half outputs of the season, and was unable to recover, eventually falling by 13 to drop to 13-8 overall and 11-4 in league play. Shippensburg shot just 34.5 % from the field and a low 53.3 % from the line in the setback while also committing 26 turnovers, losing the turnover battle by 11 in the road loss. Dom Sleva, who is third on the team in scoring (14.0/g) and first in rebounding (12.5/g), led the way on Saturday night, finishing with 15 points and 13 rebounds for yet another double-double.
In the first meeting between West Chester and Shippensburg, Rashon Johnson turned in the best offensive performance of any player against the Golden Rams this season, finishing with 28 points, which is almost twice his season average of 14.5 per game, which ranks second-best on the team. Johnson, who is third on the team in assists, averaging 1.8 per game, led the way on Saturday night, finishing with four assists, but it was not enough to help Shippensburg avoid the road setback. For the year, Shippensburg looks similar on paper to Coach
Damien Blair's Golden Rams, shooting 42.7 % from the field on the year and 32.5 % from deep, both of which are close to the season averages of the Golden Rams while also corralling an average of 38.0 rebounds per game, holding a +3.1 edge over opponents in this category.
Up next:
West Chester returns to action on Wednesday night at home against East Stroudsburg for its third game in five days before a bye on Saturday will give West Chester a week to prepare for a road game at Shepherd on January 15
th.
