EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa.- With an 86-82 victory in overtime over Shepherd on Wednesday night, the West Chester University men's basketball team (14-8, 11-5) punched its ticket back to the PSAC Tournament for the 12th year in a row, the Golden Rams will shift their attention to another ranked opponent in No. 17/7 East Stroudsburg (19-2, 13-2) on Saturday afternoon beginning at 3 p.m.
SERIES INFORMATION
After sweeping ESU in the regular season for the first time since 2008-09 a year ago, including a 106-98 victory in February, which served as the Golden Rams largest scoring output in team history against the Warriors, Wilson's charges have turned things back in their favor lately, winning each of the last two meetings. ESU avoided a true season sweep with a victory in the PSAC Quarterfinals a year ago and handled West Chester perhaps a bit too easily in Hollinger earlier this season, winning by a 94-79 final, which moved the all-time series to 92-79 in favor of the Golden Rams.
 FLOCK TALK
West Chester went on the road on Wednesday night looking for its first win of February with a matchup against Shepherd. The Golden Rams carried a 39-38 lead into the halftime break, but as history would indicate, the game would come down to the final possessions. Shepherd erased a late-game deficit in the final 90 seconds of regulation and poked the ball away from Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt), who scored a game-high 31 as he drove the lane looking for a buzzer-beating winner at the end of the second half. This forced OT, which the Golden Rams largely dominated, getting out to an early lead and, despite some late threes by Shepherd, never trailed en route to an 86-82 victory over the Rams. This win was the Golden Rams third win over Shepherd in the final three seconds of regulation or OT in the last four meetings. Smith scored a career-high 31, along with 22 from Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) and another double-double by Jordan Kellier (Kingston, Jamaica/Redemption Christian) as he finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
In 2023-24, Kellier has been perhaps one of the most dominant inside presences that West Chester has seen in some time, entering play on Saturday afternoon, averaging a double-double, averaging 12.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. The graduate student forward, who was named PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week earlier this week, has recorded a double-double in six straight games and now ranks first in the PSAC and seventh in Division II men's basketball in rebounding as the final month of the season continues. Kellier is joined inside by Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) who averages 13.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, ranking third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding. If teams hold out hope for an easier time stopping the Golden Rams away from the basket, we have bad news for them as well, primarily in the form of Elijah Allen and Robert Smith. Allen and Smith rank first and second on the team in scoring, averaging 18.5 and 17.6 points per game, and have been a terror for opposing defenses throughout the season. Allen has scored in double figures in 19 of the last 20 games and scored in double figures eight times, including a 22-point performance in the win over Shepherd on Wednesday night. For his part, Smith has scored in double digits in 17 of 19 games this season, including a career-high 31-point performance to help guide West Chester to an OT victory over Shepherd earlier this week.
As a team, West Chester averages 80.8 points per game and limits their foes to 78.1, entering play with a +2.7 scoring margin on the season. West Chester ranks fourth in the PSAC in scoring average while also ranking second among PSAC East teams, trailing only East Stroudsburg, who is second in the PSAC and first in the East. The Golden Rams shoot 46.1 % from the field and 36.1 % from beyond the arc on the season, ranking sixth in the league in three-point field goal percentage, while once again ranking among the league leaders in rebounding, averaging 38.7 rebounds per game, while limiting opponents to 31.8. West Chester has outrebounded its opponents 17 times this season and has won 11 of those matchups, showing a record of 11-6 entering play on Saturday afternoon. Additionally, the Golden Rams have not found themselves on the losing end of the rebounding battle since a January 10 home victory over Shepherd.
 SCOUTING ESU
Ranked 17th in the DII Coaches poll and seventh in the DII Media Poll, East Stroudsburg enters play on a six-game winning streak with an impressive 19-2 record overall to show for its troubles. The Warriors will return to action on Saturday for the first time since defeating Shepherd last Saturday afternoon in Koehler Field House, dismissing the Rams by a 73-59 final. Shepherd did well to limit the potent ESU offense on Saturday, holding the Warriors to their second-lowest scoring output in a game this season, trailing only a pair of 65-point efforts in victories over Mercyhurst and IUP during the first half of the 2023-24 campaign. This defensive effort was not enough to help Shepherd pull the upset as East Stroudsburg, led by 20 points from Lakeem McAliley, carried a 41-32 lead into the halftime break and extended this lead in the second half with a 32-27 performance in the final 20 minutes. Despite shooting just 28.6 % from three-point range, East Stroudsburg found a way to shoot 42.9 % from the field while also connecting on 64.7 % of its opportunities at the charity stripe.
Individually, McAliley has been among the top players in the league once again this season, averaging 18.0 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game to lead the team in both categories. McAliley is also second on the team in steals, averaging 2.2 per game, which trails only Jaelen McGlone for first on the team, as the Warriors average an impressive 11.0 steals per game to consistently wreak havoc on opposing offenses. The Warriors' 11-steal per-game average helps ESU enter play with a +4.4 lead in turnover margin, forcing opponents into north of 20 turnovers per game, which plays a vital role in holding foes to just 73.8 points per game. Offensively, ESU averages 89.2 points per game, which, as referenced earlier, ranks first in the PSAC East and second in the PSAC. The Warriors shoot a blistering 47.5 % from the field and 34.0 % from three-point range while also connecting on 73.0 % of their attempts at the charity stripe as the final month of the 2023-24 season rolls on.
UP NEXT:
West Chester returns to action on Wednesday night at home against Kutztown beginning at 7:30 p.m. in a Valentine's Day night doubleheader presented by McDonald's.
