WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University men's basketball team enters play on Saturday afternoon looking for its third win as many tries, hoping to improve to 12-6 overall and 9-3 in league action with a win over Mansfield. West Chester has completed an impressive turnaround since a 1-3 start to the year, winning 10 of its last 13 games, including a pair of wins the team has not recorded since the 2015-16 season, defeating a top-10 foe (No. 9 Cal on 1/3; 100-97) and defeating Shippensburg on the road on Wednesday night.
SERIES INFORMATION
West Chester will look to continue its winning ways today vs Mansfield as the Golden Rams hope to run their winning streak to two in a row over the Mounties. West Chester swept the season series a year ago, winning the first meeting by a 70-68 final in Hollinger before earning a 78-68 victory on the road in the series finale. With these two wins, West Chester holds a 58-34 lead in the all-time series, playing to a record of 24-6 since the 2007-08 season. In the second meeting between the two teams a year ago,
Joshua Walker scored a career-high 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds to lead the Purple and Gold to the road victory. West Chester led by one at the half and used a 14-4 run midway through the second half to erase a 47-45 deficit and pull away for the 10-point victory.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester accomplished yet another thing that the team had not done since 2015-16 on Wednesday night, posting a road victory over Shippensburg by an 88-73 final. West Chester trailed in the early going on Wednesday but erased the deficit as quickly as it came, holding a 45-34 lead at the half and stretching the lead to as many as 22 as the second half continued. The Raiders attempted to mount a comeback late but never got closer than 12 points as the Golden Rams left Heiges Field House victorious.
Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) nearly had a career-night, finishing with 27 points, one shy of his career-high, which he set on opening weekend of his freshman season against Lincoln after scoring 19 in the first half.
Jordan Kellier (Kingston, Jamaica/Redemption Christian) and
Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) each recorded double-doubles, finishing with 17 points/11 rebounds and 14 points/10 rebounds, respectively, as three of four players in double figures.
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) was the fourth and final Golden Ram to score in double figures on Wednesday night, chipping in 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting to help guide the team to victory.
Kellier has been a force to be reckoned with in the post this season, entering play 17th in DII and first in the PSAC in rebounding, averaging 9.7 rebounds per game, while also averaging 12.2 points per game to rank fourth on the team in scoring. Allen and Smith continue to also be one of the more dangerous guard tandems in the PSAC, ranking first and second on the team in scoring, averaging 18.7 and 16.7 points per game.
As a team, West Chester enters play averaging 80.2 points per game, shooting 45.5 % from the field and 34.7 % from beyond the arc, while also holding a +5.4 (37.9-32.5) advantage in the rebounding battle thus far in 2023-24. The Golden Rams' efforts from three-point range have been a significant key to success for the team, particularly in recent weeks, shooting north of 50.0 % from three-point range in four of the last seven games with wins in all four such games. West Chester shot a blistering 75.0 % from deep in the second half of the win over Kutztown on January 17, which helped the team erase an early second-half deficit to post an 87-76 victory. While the Golden Rams three-point shooting success has been essential and a harbinger of the team's success, the Golden Rams have been just as impressive inside, going 9-2 when outscoring opponents in the paint, outscoring them by a 411 (37.4/g)-280 (25.4/g) margin in 11 games. West Chester also ranks 15
th in Division II and second in the PSAC in offensive rebounding, averaging 13.6 offensive rebounds per game, which has helped the team outscore its opponents in second-chance points in 12 of 17 games this season.
SCOUTING MANSFIELD
Mansfield enters play amid a two-game losing streak after becoming Lock Haven's latest victim on Wednesday night by an 89-78 final in Thomas Field House. The Mounties trailed by just five at the half and could not complete a comeback in the second half as the host Bald Eagles used their early lead to hold on for the 11-point victory. Michael Dickson led the team in scoring with 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting, while Saraj Ali nearly finished with a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing a team-best nine rebounds.
For the year, Ali leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 14.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, while his sibling, Idris Ali, is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.8 points per game, while also leading the team in assists, averaging 2.5 per game. As a team, Mansfield enters play averaging 74.3 points per game, shooting 45.3 % from the field and 32.7 % from three-point territory, while also averaging just under 36 (35.9) rebounds per game.
UP NEXT:
Saturday is the first of a tight back-to-back homestand for West Chester and the first of three of four games at home. West Chester returns to action on Monday night against Millersville, beginning at 5:30, before visiting Bloomsburg on Wednesday night in the final game of the first half of PSAC East play.
