WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) scored a season-high 26 on a perfect 10-for-10 shooting from the field, including two makes from three-point range to help the West Chester University men's basketball team (5-1) coast to a 95-52 victory over Lincoln (1-3) on Tuesday night in Hollinger Field House.
Following its historic 69-point victory over Immaculata on Thanksgiving Eve, West Chester led by as many as 50 with under five minutes to play in a wire-to-wire 43-point victory over Chester County's lone other Division II program. West Chester now has a combined margin of victory of 112 points over its last two games.
Tonight's 43-point triumph is the Golden Rams' largest margin of victory since a 49-point win over Bloomsburg last January.
With 24 assists, West Chester shot an outstanding 59.4 % (38-of-64) from the field on Tuesday night, including a 30.0 % (6-of-20) effort from long range, while also going 13-for-21 (61.9 %) at the free throw line. The Golden Rams near 60.0 % effort from the field is the team's best effort since another 59.4 % shooting performance in February 2022 against Kutztown, which saw the Golden Rams prevail by a 104-77 final.
McCall was one of three Golden Rams in double figures as
Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) and
Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading) finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Rodriguez Jr. also led the Golden Rams in assists with six, while
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) added five of his own.
Donovan Fromhartz (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) has the best effort of his career off the bench, scoring nine points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field with three rebounds and an electrifying chase-down block, which sent the Hollinger Field House crowd into hysterics in the waning seconds of a dominant victory over the Golden Rams' local rival.
Jaysean Williams (Bloomfield, CT/The Patrick School) followed up his career day last Wednesday with an eight-point effort in the win on Tuesday night as the freshman was 3-for-4 from the field, including a 2-for-3 effort from three-point range.
McCall had a first half for the ages for the Golden Rams, scoring 22 points on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting from the field, including two makes from three-point range and a 4-for-6 effort from beyond the arc.
West Chester and Lincoln traded makes early as the game was tied at 14-14 after a Julius Olanrewaju three, which tied the game at 14-14 with 13 minutes to play in the first half.
West Chester countered with a 9-0 run, led entirely by McCall, to take a 23-14 lead with under 11 minutes to play. Lincoln halted the run with a pair of makes at the free throw line before McCall hit another layup for his 16
th point of the first half, which extended the lead to 25-16.
West Chester stretched its lead to 13 (31-18) with 7:59 to play after a thunderous alley-oop by Moss before another 13-0 run gave West Chester a 43-19 lead with 2:00 minutes to play in the first half. Justin Morgan scored the final point of the first half at the free throw line with a minute to play in the half before West Chester scored the final five points of the half, including a three-point play by
Joe Sedora (York, Pa./Red Lion) with five seconds to play to give the Golden Rams a 28-point (48-20) lead heading into the halftime break.
West Chester shot a blistering 61.3 % (19-of-31) from the field in the first half, including a 3-for-11 (27.3 %) effort from three-point range, while also going 7-for-9 (77.8 %) from the free throw line.
Moss was the second Golden Ram in double figures in the first half with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including three dunks in the first 20 minutes.
Led by eight points from BJ Johnson, Lincoln shot 31.8 % (7-of-22) from the field in the first half, including a 2-for-8 (25.0 %) effort from deep, while also going 4-for-7 (57.1 %) at the free throw line.
A fastbreak dunk by
Larenzo Jerkins (Chester, Pa./Neumann Goretti) helped West Chester take what at the time was its largest lead of the game at 66-34 with just under 12 minutes to play. West Chester continued to dominate the second half, using a 14-0 run midway through the half to outscore its guests 47-32 and lead by 50 with under four minutes to play after a Jerkins free throw for the final point of his four points in the win.
West Chester ended the game with a 42-25 rebounding advantage, which led to a 25-8 edge in second-chance points and a 60-22 edge in points in the paint. West Chester also won the turnover battle by seven (17-10), which led to a 28-5 lead in points off turnovers and an 18-5 lead in points off the break.
The Golden Rams bench also outscored the Lincoln bench 41-21 in the victory, led by nine from Fromhartz.
Lincoln shot just 38.5 % (20-for-52) in the loss, including a 44.4 % (8-for-18) effort from three-point range. The Lions were abysmal from the free-throw line in the loss, going just 4-for-11 at the stripe, including a 0.0 % effort in the second half.
Draven Pilson tied for the team lead in scoring for Lincoln with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, with all nine of his points coming from three-point range.
Up Next
West Chester will open PSAC Crossover play on Saturday afternoon against Pitt-Johnstown in Hollinger Field House beginning at 3 p.m.
