WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting while also going 9-of-12 at the free throw line to help lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (10-2, 5-0) to a 69-56 victory over Seton Hill (9-5, 2-4) on Saturday afternoon.
Walker picked up his second double-double of the year with a season-high 23 points and a new career-high in rebounding as he corralled 15 rebounds to help West Chester wrap up 2024 with another victory.
The senior forward was the lone Golden Ram in double figures, as
Davante Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Red Lion) and
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) scored nine points each. Blair also led the team in assists with seven helpers in a win that saw West Chester finish with its second-lowest point total of the season, scoring only one point more than it did in its 88-68 loss to Wheeling on November 9, which was the Golden Rams last loss of 2024.
West Chester shot 38.7 % (24-of-52) from the field and 28.6 % (6-of-21) from three-point range after going 13-for-27 from the field (2-for-5) from three in the second half to gain much-needed breathing room in the Crossover victory.
West Chester also shot 75.0 % (15-of-20) at the line in the triumph. Today's win marks the Golden Rams first unbeaten run through Crossover play since the 2019-20 season, which was part of the Golden Rams 13-game winning streak to open the year.
West Chester picked up its 10
th win in as many tries, while Seton Hill dropped its third game in a row in a tight game throughout the afternoon, featuring seven ties and seven lead changes.
West Chester trailed by as many as six midway through the first half after a 5-0 run by Seton Hill but countered with an 8-0 run of its own to eventually carry a slim 30-29 lead into the halftime break.
West Chester shot just 31.4 % (11-of-35) from the field in the first half, including a 4-of-16 (25.0 %) effort from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.
West Chester never trailed after halftime and stretched its lead to as many as 15 with 1:52 to play in the second half thanks in part to 17 second-half points by Walker, including his rim-rattling dunk in the final moments, which sent the Hollinger faithful into a frenzy. West Chester closed the game well down the final minutes of regulation, never appearing in trouble in the 69-56 victory.
Seton Hill finished with two players in double figures as Kedrick Curtis led the team in scoring with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, while Gage Lattimore chipped in 12 of his own.
Seton Hill shot below 40.0 % from the field in both halves, shooting just 36.2 % (21-of-58), including a 28.0 % (7-of-25) effort from deep. The Griffins also went 7-for-10 at the line after 4-of-7 from the stripe in the second half.
West Chester ended the game with a 45-32 lead in rebounding, including a 17-9 lead on the offensive glass, which resulted in a 21-9 lead in second-chance points and a 32-24 lead in points in the paint.
Up Next
West Chester is back in action on January 3 at Shepherd beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Golden Rams first home game of 2025 will be on Monday, January 6, vs Lock Haven in the first of three-of-four in Hollinger over the next two weeks.
