West Chester vs Kutztown
Game Details: January 11 I 4:00 P.M.
Location: Hollinger Field House (West Chester, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video
Series: 81-41 (W5)
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Kutztown Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester (12-3, 7-1) suffered its first loss in nearly two months on Wednesday night as the Golden Rams fell victim to a late-game East Stroudsburg run in a 77-68 setback in Koehler Field House. West Chester trailed by four at the half but opened the second half on a 10-0 run to jump out to a six-point lead. The Golden Rams maintained an advantage for much of the second half, but East Stroudsburg rallied and escaped late, walking away with a nine-point victory after leading by 11 with under 30 seconds to play. Davante Dennis had a great night for West Chester, scoring a career-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including five makes from three-point territory, as he was one of three Golden Rams in double figures. Dennis was one of three Golden Rams in double figures, and Joshua Walker and Elijah Allen scored 16 and 10 points, respectively. West Chester shot 40.7 % (22-of-54) in the loss, including a 30.4 % (7-of-23) effort from beyond the arc, while also hitting 77.3 % (17-of-22) at the free throw line.
Flock Talk
Averaging 77.1 points per game on 41.9 % shooting from the field, including a 30.8 % shooting effort from three-point range, West Chester has been led by Elijah Allen, who averages 15.7 points and 1.9 assists per game. Joshua Walker has caught fire in recent weeks after missing time due to injury early in the season, averaging 11.5 points per game, which is second best on the team, while also leading the squad in rebounding, averaging 7.5 rebounds per game, including his 16 point effort at ESU on Wednesday night. Army-West Point transfer Dylan Blair has also seemed to find his footing in recent weeks as the sophomore guard now averages 10.5 points per game, which is third best on the team, along with four assists per game, which is first on the team and among the best in the PSAC. West Chester leads the PSAC and ranks third in DII in rebounding, averaging 44.1 rebounds per game, including an 17.4 offensive-rebound per game average, which is the best in Division II men’s basketball entering the final two months of the 2024-25 regular season.
Welcome Back
Saturday is also Alumni Day for the Golden Rams as West Chester welcomes back its alumni to see the newest edition of the Golden Rams in action. West Chester also plans to honor the men’s basketball alumni who will be in attendance at halftime of Saturday’s game vs. Kutztown.
Chasing the Legend
Head coach Damien Blair is just 8 wins away from his 300th win at WCU. When he reaches this milestone-he'll become the second WCU coach to do so, joining his coach and one of the two individuals the Hollinger Field House floor is named after-Dick DeLaney as the only MBB coaches to do so. DeLaney ended his career with 370 wins.
Second Chances
West Chester has outscored its opponents in second-chance points in every game but two this season, entering play with a 271 (18.6)-143 (9.5) lead through 15 games.
Series History
West Chester has won each of its last five against Kutztown, including an 84-79 victory in Hollinger a year ago, which moved the all-time series to 81-41 in favor of the Golden Rams. West Chester has not lost to Kutztown at home since January 2020, which ironically was the loss that halted the nationally-ranked Golden Rams 13-game winning streak to open the 2019-20 campaign.
Scouting Kutztown
Kutztown (4-9, 1-6) enters play on Saturday looking to start a two-game winning streak heading into a rescheduled game with Mansfield on Monday evening in Kutztown. Originally slated to play Mansfield on January 6, that game was postponed due to the remnants of Winter Storm Blair, which led to the Golden Bears road test at Shippensburg being their first game since January 3 at Lock Haven. The Golden Bears looked well rested early against the Raiders, jumping out to a 37-31 lead in the first half, and used this advantage to hold for the 77-73 victory in Heiges Field House. Kutztown shot 43.8 % from the field and 23.5 % from deep in the victory, led by 29 points from Jalen Bryant, while also ending the game with a 40-29 lead on the glass thanks to a 10-rebound effort by Jordan Nkoa Abessolo. Nkoa Abessolo scored 10 points as the third and final Golden Bear in double figures in the victory as the Millersville transfer picked up his second consecutive double-double and third of the season.
For the year, Kutztown enters play averaging 74.2 points per game on 41.9 % shooting from the field and 29.3 % shooting from deep while also hitting 76.8 % of its shots at the free throw line. Individually, Bryant leads the team in scoring, averaging 21.2 points per game, which is second-best in the PSAC, trailing only Cam Kearney of Clarion (21.4). Nkoa Abessolo leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.5 per game, while Jaiden McGhee is second on the team in scoring (13.3/g) and rebounding (5.0/g) while leading the team in assists, averaging 1.6 per game. Bryant and Nkoa Abessolo are tied for second on the team in assists, averaging 1.5 per game, while Bryant is also first on the team in steals, averaging 1.6 per game.
