WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) scored a team-high 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting to help lead the RV/25 West Chester University men's basketball team (19-4, 14-2) to an 84-76 victory over Mansfield (7-15, 4-12) on Saturday afternoon.
Allen, along with
Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist), Moro Osumanu (Reading, Pa./Reading), and Alex Walisnki (New Hope, Pa./New Hope Solebury), was one of four seniors honored pregame on Saturday. He was one of three Golden Rams in double figures who helped lead head coach
Damien Blair to his 300
th career victory as the Golden Rams head coach.
Walker finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double, while
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) led the West Chester bench in scoring with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field.
West Chester shot an even 50.0 % (30-of-60) from the field in the victory, including 7-of-18 (36.8 %) from beyond the arc, while also hitting 73.9 % (17-of-23) at the free throw line.
Saturday's game was a classic PSAC East battle throughout the afternoon. It featured 10 lead changes and eight ties, with neither side enjoying a run or lead larger than eight points. Despite the multitude of lead changes, the nationally ranked Golden Rams trailed for under eight minutes (7:43) as they helped lift their mentor to the milestone victory.
After a tight first half, West Chester snuck out to a 37-33 lead over Mansfield at the halftime break. Overcoming a slow start, the team shot 51.7 % (15-of-29) from the field through the first 20 minutes.
West Chester never trailed in the first half; however, the Golden Rams were tied on five separate occasions and never held a lead larger than six midway through the first half.
McCall led West Chester in scoring with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting, while Walker and Allen finished the first half with eight points each.
Mansfield opened the second half on a 10-2 run through two-and-a-half minutes to take a 43-39 lead and prompt a quick West Chester timeout.
Trailing 51-46, West Chester responded with a 5-0 run thanks to a big transition three by
Nix Varano (Chalfont, Pa./La Salle College HS) and a driving layup by
Davante Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Red Lion) to tie the score at 51-51 with 12:14 to play.
Over the next nearly six minutes, the game remained as tight as ever, with the two teams trading blows, but West Chester held a slim 67-64 lead over its guests after a
Davante Dennis three with 7:06 to play.
Despite seeing its lead cut down to just one in the final seven minutes, West Chester never trailed again en route to an 84-76 victory that gave head coach
Damien Blair his 300
th career victory as the Golden Rams head coach.
With the 300
th win this afternoon, Blair joins an exclusive list as one of just two West Chester men's basketball coaches to win 300 games in their career, with longtime head coach Dick Delaney being the lone other coach to do so.
Mansfield shot 35.7 % (25-of-70) from the field and 29.2 % (7-of-24) from three-point range while also going 19-for-26 (73.1 %) at the free throw line.
Ty Crespo led Mansfield and all scorers with 26 points, while Scott Woodring added 14, along with 10 from Owen Chambers.
West Chester ended the game tied with Mansfield in rebounding with 40 each while also finishing the victory tied in points in the paint at 34-34. West Chester's bench was a difference maker once again on Saturday as the Golden Rams second unit, which ranks fourth best in the PSAC, outscored Mansfield 34-15.
Up Next
West Chester is back in action on Wednesday night at Shippensburg beginning at 8 p.m.
