WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) and Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) finished with 20 points each on 8-of-16 and 8-of-15 shooting, respectively to help lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (15-9, 12-6) to an 84-79 victory over an upset-minded Kutztown (3-21, 2-16) squad on Wednesday evening.
Walker and Smith were two of four Golden Rams in double figures as four of the team's five starters scored in double figures, with
Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) chipping in 14, while
Jordan Kellier (Kingston, Jamaica/Redemption Christian) logged his 12
th double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Allen nearly picked up a double-double of his own in the victory, finishing with a team-high eight assists, two steals, and four rebounds in the bounce-back victory.
Mirko Bramati (Bologna, Italy/St. Thomas More) made his fourth collegiate start and first in PSAC East play, finishing with nine points on 3-of-8 shooting, including an important three midway through the second half.
Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski) was effective off the bench for the Golden Rams, finishing with a second-unit high five points, four assists, and three rebounds.
West Chester trailed for less than a minute in the victory. However, that does not mean that tonight's triumph was always stress-free for the homestanding Golden Rams. Head Coach Bernie Driscoll's Golden Bears gave coach
Damien Blair's Golden Rams a challenging game throughout the night as the game featured three ties and six lead changes, and West Chester held a double-digit lead only briefly during the second half. The turning point for West Chester seemed to come as the second half approached its midway point as the Golden Rams erased an early deficit with a 13-2 run, which spanned just over four minutes to take their first double-digit lead of the night with 13:30 to play in regulation.
West Chester and Kutztown traded runs throughout a first half that featured a pair of ties and a pair of lead changes. West Chester led for much of the half but could never stretch its lead beyond seven points as Kutztown made shots at opportune times to remain in the game heading to the half.
Leading 37-32 at the midway point, West Chester shot 41.9 % (13-of-31) in the first half, including a 3-for-10 (30.0 %) effort from beyond the arc. Smith and Walker tied for the team lead in scoring through 20 minutes, scoring nine points each, while Jaiden McGhee led all scorers in the first half with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting for the Golden Bears.
Out of the halftime break, West Chester and Kutztown traded makes and traded the lead back and forth before the 13-2 run, which was led by five points from Smith but saw five different Golden Rams score allowed West Chester to take a 56-46 lead with under 14 minutes to play. A 9-0 run sparked by a driving layup from Walker, which extended the lead to three (49-46), was an essential part of this run, as was a three from Smith that gave West Chester its 10-point cushion.
This lead proved to be the Golden Rams largest advantage of the evening, but West Chester did well to keep the Golden Bears at bay down the stretch, never allowing the lead to shrink under five points en route to the 84-79 victory.
Bramati hit a crucial three with 7:06 to play in regulation, which halted a Golden Bear run that had seen the Golden Ram lead shrink to just six (62-56).
With the lead back to nine, West Chester never looked back, trading points with Kutztown down the stretch but never allowing the visitors to fully get back into the game, holding on for the five-point home triumph.
West Chester ended the game shooting 45.3 % (29-of-64) from the field and 31.3 % (5-of-16) from three-point range, but the Golden Rams were at their best when it mattered most, going 6-of-7 from the field down the stretch to avoid the upset in Hollinger.
West Chester also shot 67.7 % (21-of-31) at the line in the victory, led by a 5-for-8 effort at the stripe by Kellier.
For Kutztown, McGhee led four players in double figures with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting as the Golden Bears shot 48.3 % (29-of-60) from the field on the night, including a 29.4 % (5-of-17) effort from three-point range and a 72.7 % (16-of-22) effort at the line. In addition to McGhee's 21 points, Brent Ricketts Jr. finished with 18 points, while Amir Cunningham added 13 of his own to go along with 12 from Juju Pagan.
Despite the victory, Kutztown ended the game with a 39-36 lead in rebounding, although West Chester held an 11-8 advantage on the offensive glass. West Chester finished the game with a +6 (13-7) advantage in the turnover battle and outscored Kutztown 19-4 in points off turnovers, 46-34 in points in the paint, and 22-8 in points off the break.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action next Wednesday night at home against Shippensburg, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in its final home game of February.
