WEST CHESTER, Pa.-Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) was excellent on Saturday afternoon, scoring a season-high 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting to help lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (1-2) to a dominant 92-78 victory over Wilmington (1-3) in the Golden Rams home opener on Saturday afternoon.
West Chester trailed for less than a minute and led by as many as 23 midway through the second half in a nearly wire-to-wire victory in front of its home crowd.
Allen was one of two Golden Rams in double figures as
Darrius Phillips (East Stroudsburg, Pa./Seton Hall Prep) scored a career-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while also grabbing six rebounds.
Davante Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Red Lion) led the way in rebounding with 10 as West Chester ended the game with a 42-37 lead in rebounding, thanks to a 14-9 lead on the offensive glass.
West Chester ended the game with a 38-32 lead in points in the paint and a 13-10 lead in second-chance points. It also finished the game with a 14-8 lead in points off turnovers and a dominant 43-24 lead in points off the bench.
West Chester shot a blistering 56.8 % (21-of-37) from the field in the first half, led by 13 points from Allen, as the Golden Rams held a 51-38 lead at the halftime break.
West Chester trailed for less than a minute in the first half, eventually stretching its lead to as many as 15 late in the first half after a 7-0 run midway through the frame. West Chester was 6-for-15 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes, led by a 3-for-5 effort from beyond the arc by Allen.
James Johns Jr. (Claymont, Del./Long Island Lutheran) chipped in nine points of his own in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting, while
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) added seven on 3-6 from the field.
In its first regular-season game on the newly named Kane-DeLaney Court, West Chester showed little sign of let up in the second half, stretching its lead to as many as 23 with 7:24 to play after a deep three by
Davante Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Red Lion) pushed the lead to 79-56 entering the final minutes of regulation.
Wilmington tried to mount a late comeback as the Wildcats were outscored by just one (41-40) in the second half, but the visitors were only able to trim the deficit to 14 with under a minute to play in their first loss to the Golden Rams since November 2021.
After its red-hot first-half shooting percentage, West Chester shot 47.2 % (34-of-72) from the field, 36.0 % (9-of-25) from three-point range, and 65.2 % (15-of-23) from the free-throw line.
Wilmington shot 42.6 % (26-of-61) from the field and 30.4 % (7-of-23) from three-point range, while the Wildcats also shot 76.0 % (19-of-25) from the charity stripe. Skip Burton scored a team-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting as one of four Wildcats in double figures. Tre Hawkins added 12 of his own and a team-high seven rebounds, while Justin Perez and Hamahrie Bowers added 10 and 11 points, respectively.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action on Wednesday evening against Jefferson beginning at 6 p.m.
