LOCK HAVEN, Pa.- Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) scored 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a 7-for-10 effort at the line to help guide the West Chester University men's basketball team (14-4, 8-3) to a 73-62 victory over Lock Haven (7-11, 3-8) inside Thomas Field House on Saturday afternoon.
West Chester never trailed on Saturday, leading for all but 31 seconds in the road victory, and despite a mid-second-half run by the Bald Eagles, led by as many as 14 with under 40 seconds to play, as the team remained unbeaten in PSAC East play heading into the last week of January.
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) and
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) scored 13 points each as Blair was a team-best 3-for-5 from three-point range, while McCall was a team-best 6-for-11 from the field.
Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading) narrowly missed out on yet another double-double, finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds, while tying with Blair for the team lead in assists with six, along with two steals.
After shooting 64.0 % from the field in the first half, West Chester finished the game shooting 54.2 % (26-of-48) from the field, including a 5-for-13 (38.5 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also shooting 76.2 % (16-of-21) at the line. West Chester shot north of 50.0 % for the eighth time this season, and for the second game in a row, and in doing so improved to 8-1 on the year when shooting over 50 % from the field.
West Chester jumped out to a 17-7 lead in the first six-and-a-half minutes after opening the game on a 7-0 run through the first three minutes of action, led by four points from Moss.
Shooting 61.5 % (8-for-13) from the field through the first nine minutes, West Chester held a 21-14 lead over Lock Haven with 10 minutes to play in the first half.
West Chester carried a 38-27 lead into the halftime break after shooting 64.0 % (16-of-25) from the field, while going 2-for-7 (28.6 %) from three-point range and 4-for-6 (66.7 %) at the line. Moss led West Chester in scoring through the first 20 minutes with 10 points, while Luke Kennevan led Lock Haven and all scorers with 11 first-half points of his own.
West Chester opened up a 14-point (55-41) lead with just under 12 minutes to play in the game before Lock Haven countered with a 5-0 run, which cut the Golden Rams advantage to 55-46 with 10:41 remaining before continuing its comeback bid, cutting the lead to 59-51 with 7:49 to play.
Looking to quiet a 10-4 Bald Eagle run, Blair hit a jumper with 7:28 to play, which restored a 10-point lead for the Golden Rams at 61-51 with 7:29 remaining. Dean Coleman-Newsome had a quick answer for Lock Haven, draining a jumper of his own with 7:04 remaining that cut the lead back to eight. The Lock Haven comeback bid continued as the hosts trimmed the Golden Rams to seven (64-57) with three minutes to play.
Down seven was as close as West Chester allowed its hosts to get as the Golden Rams went on a 7-2 run, which stretched the lead back to 73-59 with 39 seconds to play en route to a 73-62 victory.
Dyllon Scott led Lock Haven and all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and a 3-for-6 effort from beyond the arc, while also going 5-for-6 at the free throw line in the loss.
The Bald Eagles shot 38.9 % (21-of-54) from the field, while also going 8-for-24 (33.3 %) from three-point range, and 12-for-18 (66.7 %) from the line.
Lock Haven won the turnover battle by five (13-8) and finished the game with a 14-11 lead in points off turnovers but West Chester finished the contest with a 30-20 lead in points in the paint, an 11-3 lead in fast break points, and a 16-6 lead in points off the bench, led by six points from each from
Jaysean Williams (Bloomfield, Ct./The Patrick School) and
Joe Sedora (York, Pa./Red Lion).
West Chester finished the game with a 32-22 lead in rebounding, including a 6-4 lead on the offensive glass, which led to five second-chance points.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action on Thursday night at East Stroudsburg, beginning at 7:30 p.m., before hosting Mansfield next Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in the first of two games in Hollinger in three days. West Chester will host Millersville on Monday, February 2, at 7:30 in a game that was originally scheduled to be played on Tuesday night but was postponed due to the anticipated impacts of the winter storm moving into the area on Saturday night.
