INDIANA, Pa.- Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading) scored a career and team season-high 30 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and a perfect 10-for-10 effort at the free throw line to help lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (8-3, 2-2) to an 88-83 victory over No. 25 Indiana (Pa.) (8-2, 3-1).
Rodriguez Jr. was one of four Golden Rams in double figures as
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while
Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) added 10 of his own, with six of those 10 coming at the free throw line.
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) was the fourth and final Golden Ram in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and a team-best four assists.
West Chester shot 53.6 % (30-of-56) from the field in the win, including a 27.8 % (5-of-18) effort from three-point range, while also shooting 76.7 % (23-of-30) at the foul line to earn its first road victory over IUP since November 2015. West Chester was excellent from the field and the line in the second half, shooting 51.9 % (14-of-27) from the field and 78.9 % (15-of-19) from the line to close out the 2026 opening victory.
West Chester jumped out to an early four-point lead before IUP answered with a 23-7 run to take a 23-11 lead with 11:09 to play in the first half.
West Chester countered with a run of its own, led by five points from
Gavin Dalen (Milford, Ohio/Milford), which in just under two minutes cut the lead from 12 down to three as West Chester trailed 23-20 with 9:36 to play in the first half. The Crimson Hawks stretched their lead back to as many as six before an
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) three with 5:10 to play in the first half tied the score at 32-32. West Chester led by two after a pair of free throws by Rodriguez Jr. (34-32) with 4:40 to play.
IUP closed the first half on a 13-8 run, which saw the hosts carry a slim 45-42 lead into the halftime break.
The Crimson Hawks restored a five-point lead to start the second half when Dallis Dillard hit a jumper before Rodriguez Jr. hit his first of two three-pointers in the first two minutes, which eventually cut the deficit to just one (49-48).
McCall tied the game at 50-50 with a second-chance layup in the lane and was fouled in the process, hitting his free throw to give West Chester a 51-50 lead.
Dillard gave IUP a 52-51 lead with a pair of free throws with 16:42 to play before West Chester
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) led West Chester on a 5-0 run to give the Golden Rams a 56-52 lead.
Rodriguez Jr. hit a pair of free throws with 12:44 to play, which gave the Golden Rams its largest lead of the game at 60-54.
The Golden Ram defense was crucial to the early second-half surge as Dillard's layup with 18:46 to play was the Crimson Hawks' last made field goal until a Christian Moore layup with 5:43 to play snapped a 13-minute drought.
West Chester stretched its lead to double digits when
Jaysean Williams (Bloomfield, Ct/The Patrick School) knocked down a corner three, and Rodriguez Jr. made the lead 12 with a fast break layup off a
Myles Grey (Reading, Pa./Reading) steal with eight minutes to play.
Moore's layup, which halted a 13-minute scoring drought, cut the West Chester lead to 73-67 before trimming the lead to 75-71 after a steal and layup by Dillard, which prompted a timeout by the Golden Rams.
IUP continued its furious comeback bid, cutting the West Chester lead to 83-81 with 1:40 to play after a dunk by Damir Brooks after a Bautista Rodriguez block on a jumper by Rodriguez Jr.
This dunk came as part of an 18-10 run by the Crimson Hawks, which included the layup that halted a 13-minute drought from the field.
Following a timeout, West Chester stretched its lead back to three when McCall went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line. On the ensuing Crimson Hawk possession, Kymani Merraro took a three with 50 seconds to play, but the shot went in and out and into the waiting hands of Rodriguez Jr.
With 22 seconds to play, Blair took a three of his own, which was also off the mark, but Rodriguez Jr. was waiting once again for a long rebound, his eighth of the game. Dillard fouled Rodriguez Jr., which ended Dillard's day with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
Rodriguez Jr. hit both free throws and hit two more moments later to give himself a career-high 30 points, which is not only a single-game season high but also matches McCall for the most points in a single game in the last two seasons. McCall scored his 30 points on the last day of the regular season at Kutztown last March. These four late free throws lifted West Chester to an 88-83 victory over the 25
th-ranked Crimson Hawks.
West Chester ended the game with a 37-27 lead in rebounding, including a 15-12 lead on the offensive glass, which resulted in a 20-13 lead in second-chance points and a 40-28 lead in points in the paint.
Despite its 13-minute field goal drought in the second half, IUP shot 46.2 % (24-of-52) from the field and 28.6 % (6-of-21) from three-point range, while also shooting 76.3 % (29-of-38) from the line in the loss.
Dillard led the Crimson Hawks in scoring with 22 points as one of four players in double figures. Merraro finished with 19 of his own, with 12 of those 19 coming at the free throw line, while Moore and Brooks added 13 and 11 points each.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday at Seton Hill beginning at 3 p.m.
