BOWIE, Md.- Dinari Boykin (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) scored a team-high 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, including a 3-for-5 effort from three-point range in his Golden Ram debut but it was not enough to lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (0-1) to an opening night victory as the Golden Rams fell to Fayetteville State (1-0) by an 83-80 final on Friday evening at Bowie State.
Boykin was one of two Golden Rams in double figures as
Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) finished with 10 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Joe Sedora (York, Pa./Red Lion) closed out the first half scoring with his first field goal of the night to give West Chester the 50-46 lead heading into the halftime break.
West Chester shot 42.2 % (19-of-45) from the field in the first half, including seven makes from three-point range to take a 50-46 lead into the second half.
Boykin led West Chester in scoring in the first half with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and a 3-for-4 effort from three-point range.
West Chester led by as many as 11 (37-26) with just over six minutes to play in the first half before Fayetteville State battled back to cut the lead to as few as two (48-46) in the waning seconds of the first half.
Fayetteville State opened the second half on an 8-4 run through the first four-and-a-half minutes to tie the game at 54-54 before West Chester surged back to take a 65-64 lead after a jumper by
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) before Boykin hit a layup, which stretched the lead to 67-64 with under seven minutes to play.
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Xavier Vann (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) jumper with five minutes to play stretched the West Chester lead to 74-66 before Fayetteville State answered with a 10-0 run to erase the deficit and take a 76-74 lead with 2:43 to play.
Trailing by three with under 30 seconds to play,
Larenzo Jenkins (Chester, Pa./Neumann Goretti), hit a layup with 21 seconds to play, which cut the deficit to 81-80 before the Broncos stretched the lead back to 83-80 with a pair of makes at the free throw line.
Blair took a final shot from three-point range with 10 seconds to play, hoping to tie the game at 83-83, but the shot missed and Fayetteville State grabbed the defensive rebound to escape with the 83-80 victory.
Blair had a well-rounded evening for the Golden Rams, finishing with nine points, six rebounds, and five assists in the loss, while
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) led the team in rebounding with nine rebounds, along with eight points to finish just shy of a double-double.
After shooting north of 40 % in the first half, West Chester shot just 32.5 (13-of-40) from the field in the second half, including a 1-for-11 (9.09 %) effort from three-point range as the Golden Rams shot just 38.1 % (32-of-84) from the field, including an 8-for-26 (30.8 %) from three-point range in the loss. West Chester was also just 8-for-18 (44.4 %) from the free-throw line, including a 3-for-7 effort in the second half.
Larry Howell led Fayetteville State in scoring with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while Romeo Aquino finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, along with 13 off the bench from Ezekiel Cannedy, as the Broncos opened the season with a victory.
Fayetteville State shot 47.1 % (24-of-51) from the field in the victory, including a 6-for-19 (31.6 %) effort from three-point range, while also going 29-for-39 (74.4 %) from the free throw line.
Despite the loss, West Chester ended the game with a 47-37 lead in rebounding and a 22-7 lead in second-chance points, along with a 42-34 lead in points in the paint.
Up Next
West Chester will look to level its record at 1-1 on Saturday afternoon when the Golden Rams take on Bowie State beginning at 3 p.m.
