KUTZTOWN, Pa.- Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) scored 18 on 7-of-13 shooting to help lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (10-6, 7-3) to an 87-76 victory over Kutztown (2-14, 1-9) on Wednesday night in PSAC East action.
Looking to bounce back from a setback against nationally-ranked foe East Stroudsburg on Saturday afternoon, West Chester took to the road for the first of two straight away from home and led for much of the game, over 36 minutes to be exact en route to the 11-point road victory. West Chester never trailed by more than a basket and led by as many as 14 midway through the second half in a strong team win, which saw four players score in double figures and three more finish with eight points or more.
In addition to his team-high 18 points, Walker also came away with 13 rebounds, picking up his second double-double of the season in the process.
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) scored 17 in the victory, while
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) and
Jordan Kellier (Kingston, Jamaica/Redemption Christian) added 16 and 10, respectively. Kellier came away with eight rebounds of his own in the victory while also tying with
Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski) for the team lead in assists with four as the sophomore guard also chipped in nine points on Wednesday night.
For Kutztown, Yahmir Satterfield led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field in 31 minutes off the bench, while Juju Pagan added 17 of his own, along with a team-high six assists in the setback.
West Chester raced out to an early 9-0 lead through the first 3:09 of regulation and led by an 11-4 margin at the first media timeout of the game, thanks in part to four early points by Allen and three more from Smith. West Chester continued to lead as the first half progressed, but the Golden Bears made it clear that they would not go away quietly on Wednesday night, continuing to chip away at the Golden Ram throughout the first 20 minutes of action.
With just 1:10 to play until halftime, Kutztown tied it back up at 41-41 as Yahmir Satterfield hit a three before hitting another with 24 seconds to play to give Kutztown its first lead of the half at 44-43, while also increasing his first-half scoring total to 19.
Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski Area) drew a foul just 10 seconds later and hit both shots at the line to restore a 45-44 West Chester lead, but Juju Pagan scored the final points of the half with a pull-up jumper with four seconds left to send the Golden Rams to the break with a 46-45 lead.
Kutztown opened the scoring in the second half with a layup by Brent Ricketts Jr. to stretch the lead to 48-45, but West Chester answered quickly to take a 49-48 lead after a perfect trip to the line by Walker.
Trailing 50-49 with 17:24 to play, Purnell Jr. hit a floater, which restored the West Chester lead and sparked an 11-0 West Chester run as the Golden Rams pulled back ahead 60-50 with just over 13:30 to play in regulation.
Pagan snapped the run with another jumper, but Smith answered with his third made three of the night, which, after a driving layup by Walker, helped West Chester take a 65-54 lead into the under-12 media timeout. Out of the timeout, Purnell Jr. knocked down a three of his own, using an assist from Kellier to give the Golden Rams a 68-54 lead over the Golden Bears.
A Ryan Glassmacher three came as part of a 7-1 Golden Bear run and cut the West Chester lead to 69-61 with 7:48 to play, but West Chester pulled back ahead to make the score 79-67 with under five minutes to play after an important three by
Mirko Bramati (Bologna, Italy/St. Thomas More).
Kutztown continued to try and mount a comeback in the late stages of regulation, using back-to-back threes by Satterfield to cut the Golden Ram lead to just five (81-76) with 2:27 to play, but West Chester ended the game on a 6-0 run to leave Kutztown with an 87-76 victory on Wednesday night.
West Chester shot an even 50.0 % (27-of-54) from the field in the victory after shooting an impressive 56.0 % (14-of-25) from the field in the second half. The Golden Rams also shot an even 50.0 % (7-of-14) from three-point range, including a stellar 6-for-8 effort from deep in the second half. The Golden Rams shot just 66.7 % (26-of-39) from the charity stripe in the victory, connecting on 18-of-24 attempts in the first half before going 8-for-15 in the second half.
For Kutztown, the Golden Bears shot well once again, shooting 54.2 % (26-of-48) from the field, including a blistering 17-of-27 (63.0 %) in the first half, while connecting on 45.0 % (9-of-20) from three-point range. Kutztown was similar to West Chester at the line on Wednesday night, hitting just 15-of-24 (62.5 %) of its attempts, going 7-for-11 in the first half and 8-for-13 in the second.
One of the top rebounding groups in the PSAC and Division II men's basketball once again in 2023-24, West Chester ended the game with a 40-20 lead in rebounding, including a 17-4 advantage on the offensive glass, which resulted in a 27-4 lead in second-chance points and a 30-24 advantage in points in the paint.
Bramati led the Golden Ram's second unit in scoring and was the second-highest scoring player off the bench in the game for either side as the freshman finished with nine points with one made three while also going a perfect 6-for-6 at the line, trailing only Satterfield who scored 25 for Kutztown in the setback.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action next Wednesday night at Shippensburg beginning at 8 p.m.
