PHILADELPHIA- Jaysean Williams (Bloomfield, Ct./The Patrick School) led all scorers with 25 points off the bench to help the West Chester University men's basketball team (7-1) erase a 20-point second-half deficit for an 83-79 victory over Jefferson (6-5) on Tuesday night.
West Chester trailed by as many as 21 in the first half and by 20 in the second half, but closed the game on a 20-4 run, led by 11 from Williams to stun the homestanding Rams.
Williams was 9-for-14 from the field, including a 5-for-6 effort from three-point range off the bench to help West Chester pick up an impressive road victory.
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) and
Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading) finished with 15 and 13 points, respectively, to help West Chester win its seventh straight.
Blair led West Chester in assists with five and steals with four, while
Dinari Boykin (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) led the team in rebounding with eight.
West Chester jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before the host Rams answered with a 19-0 run, led by six points from Alex Bates IV and five more from Sean Fullerton to take a 19-4 lead with just over 14 minutes to play in the first half.
Luke Boyd (Somerton, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) halted the run with a jumper with 14:04 to play, but Jefferson continued to dominate the first half, holding a 32-13 lead with 10 minutes to play in the first half.
A perfect trip to the line by
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) with just under seven minutes to play cut the Jefferson lead to 11 (36-25) before the Rams stretched their lead to 54-37 heading into the halftime break.
Jeremiah Dorsey led Jefferson in scoring in the first half with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field as the Rams shot 50.0 % (17-of-34) from the field in the first half, including a 5-for-13 (38.5 %) effort from three-point range, while also going 15-for-17 (88.2 %) at the free throw line.
West Chester shot just 34.2 % (13-of-38) from the field in the first half, including three makes from beyond the arc, while also going 8-for-12 (66.7 %) at the free throw line. Blair led the Golden Rams in scoring through 20 minutes with six, scoring four of his six points at the free throw line.
Trailing by 20 (67-47) with 10:50 to play, West Chester began its comeback bid with a 7-0 run, keyed by five points from Williams
, which cut the deficit to 67-54 with 9:42 to play.
Jahmare Memphis halted the run with a pair of makes at the free throw line before West Chester answered with a 9-0 run, including a Blair three with 6:31 to play, which cut the deficit to 69-63 with 6:31 to play.
Back-to-back threes by Williams and Blair with 4:13 and 3:37 to play kept the comeback bid alive and sparked a 9-0 run, which saw West Chester pull back to within one (75-74) after a one-for-two trip to the line by Blair. Williams capped the comeback with a made three, which gave West Chester its first lead since under 18 minutes to play in the first half as the Golden Rams held a 77-75 lead with 1:35 to play.
Jefferson tied the game at 77-77 with a 2-for-2 trip to the line by Brendan Mykalcio with 1:16 to play before Williams hit another three to give West Chester an 80-77 lead with 48 seconds to play. Jefferson pulled back to within one after a Matt McCool jumper off a Mykalcio miss before Blair hit another jumper with nine seconds to play to give West Chester an 82-79 lead.
Jeremiah Dorsey hoisted a three with three seconds to play, but it was off the mark, and
Joe Sedora (York, Pa./Red Lion) grabbed the rebound and was fouled with under a second to play to head to the line. Sedora made his first free throw to give West Chester an 83-79 lead, but missed his inconsequential second as the Golden Rams escaped the Gallagher Center with an 83-79 comeback victory on Tuesday night.
West Chester shot 37.3 % (28-of-75) from the field in the victory after going 15-for-37 (40.5 %) in the second half, while also shooting 40.0 % (10-of-25) from beyond the arc and 63.0 % (17-for-27) at the free throw line.
Dorsey led Jefferson in scoring with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field as one of four Rams in double figures. As a team, Jefferson shot 39.7 % (23-of-580 from the field, including a 6-for-22 (27.3 %) effort in the second half, including a 1-for-9 effort from three-point range in the second half. Jefferson also shot 84.4 % (27-of-32) from the line in the loss.
One of the top rebounding teams in Division II, West Chester ended the game with a 49-41 lead in rebounding and a 21-17 lead in turnovers. West Chester finished the game with a 20-12 lead in second-chance points and a 26-21 lead in points off turnovers, along with a 39-21 lead in points off the bench, thanks to the career-high 25 from Williams.
Up Next
West Chester will put its winning streak on the line on Saturday afternoon against Gannon in Hollinger Field House beginning at 3 p.m.
