EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa.-Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading) and
Jaysean Williams (Bloomfield, Ct./The Patrick School) scored 19 points each to lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (15-4, 9-3) to an 85-82 victory over East Stroudsburg (14-6, 8-5) on Thursday night.
West Chester erased a five-point halftime deficit as the Golden Rams outscored Nasir Griffin and the Warriors 46-38 in the second half and held off a late-game comeback bid to leave Koehler Field House with a three-point win for the first time since January 2023.
Tonight's win also gave West Chester its fifth second-half comeback victory of the season on Thursday night and its first since a comeback win over Indiana (Pa.) on January 2 to open 2026.
Rodriguez Jr. and Williams were two of three Golden Rams in double figures in the win as
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) added 10 of his own along with eight points each from
Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School), Gavin Dalen (Milford, Ohio/Milford), and Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West).
Rodriguez Jr. also led West Chester in rebounds (eight), assists (five), and steals (three).
West Chester shot 47.5 % (28-of-59) from the field in the victory, including a 55.6 % (15-of-27) effort from the field in the second half, while also shooting 47.1 % (8-of-17) from three-point range, including a 6-for-10 (60.0%) effort from beyond the arc in the second half. West Chester also turned in one of its best free-throw shooting efforts of the season as the team was 21-for-24 (87.5 %) at the line, including a 10-for-11 (90.9 %) effort in the second half.
The first half remained close throughout the early going, with East Stroudsburg holding a 20-15 lead with just under 10 minutes to play. The majority of the points for both sides came at the charity stripe, as 19 fouls were called in the first 11 minutes of action.
Williams cut the East Stroudsburg lead to 23-19 with a driving layup before
Saleem Payne hit a jumper the other way to extend the Warrior lead back to 25-19 with 8:33 remaining in the first half. West Chester continued to battle as the first half continued as a Williams three, which was the Golden Rams' first made three of the night, cutting the lead to 29-28 before Blair tied things up at 30-30 with a 2-for-2 trip to the line with under five minutes to play in the first half.
East Stroudsburg countered with four quick points to take a 34-30 lead before Dalen hit a fast break layup to cut the lead back to two.
The host Warriors eventually carried a 44-39 lead into the half, as the first half, which could best and perhaps only be described as a slog, reached its conclusion with ESU holding a five-point lead over its guests.
The first half featured 28 fouls between the two teams as West Chester was whistled for 17 fouls, although ESU shot just 10-for-20 (50.0 %) at the line, while East Stroudsburg was whistled for 11, and West Chester shot 84.6 % (11-for-13) at the stripe.
Led by eight points off the bench from Dalen, West Chester also shot 40.6 % (13-of-32) from the field in the first half while Nasir Griffin led ESU in scoring with 21 quick points on 16-of-26 (61.5 %) shooting from the field, including a 2-for-5 (40.0 %) effort from beyond the arc.
West Chester outscored its hosts 25-17 through the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the second half, shooting 64.3 % (9-for-14) to open the half to erase the halftime deficit and take a 64-61 lead. Rodriguez Jr. gave West Chester a 56-55 lead at the free throw line with 14:47 to play before Williams hit a three to stretch the run to 7-0 and give West Chester a 59-56 advantage with 13:58 remaining.
McCall converted a three-point play with 12:45 to play to get into double figures and give West Chester a 64-59 lead before the Warriors responded with a 4-0 run to cut the Golden Ram lead to 64-63.
Leading by two with 10:19 to play after a Keni Williams three, Rodriguez Jr. drained a clutch three just 14 seconds later off a feed from Blair to give West Chester a 71-66 advantage. Blair got an assist back from Rodriguez Jr. moments later, which gave the Golden Rams a 74-68 lead with 9:28 to play.
East Stroudsburg cut the Golden Ram lead to one with 5:11 to play after a 4-0 run by Jalen Pichardo. Pichardo earned a foul call with just over four minutes to play and missed both attempts to keep the West Chester lead intact with four minutes to play.
Holding a three-point lead with under two minutes to play, Williams was fouled and converted both free throws to give West Chester an 82-79 lead with 1:48 to play.
Pichardo continued his personal run with a layup with 1:35 to play, which cut the Golden Ram lead to three (82-79) late.
The Golden Rams held an 83-80 lead with under 40 seconds to play, but the Warriors got a big stop defensively and found themselves with the ball and down three with under 30 seconds to play.
Esat Stroudsburg got the ball across midcourt and immediately called a timeout to set up an opportunity for a last shot, which could force overtime in Koehler Field House. Looking to force overtime against West Chester for the first time since a February 2000 loss, East Stroudsburg was forced to settle for a two with just under five seconds to play, which cut the deficit to 83-82 but left the Warriors in a difficult position down one with just over four seconds to play.
East Stroudsburg nearly came away with a steal on the inbounds pass, but the ball snuck out of bounds to keep possession with the Golden Rams. Inbounding the ball with just under three seconds to play, Blair found Williams, who was fouled quickly in a desperate attempt to win back possession, sending the freshman guard back to the line with a chance to stretch the lead back to three with 2.7 to play. Williams converted both free throws to restore an 85-82 lead, and a desperation heave by Nasir Griffin was off the mark as the Golden Rams held on for their seventh win in a row by an 85-82 final.
Griffin did all he could to will ESU to the win as he scored a career-high 26, including 21 in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and an 11-for-15 effort at the line as one of four Warriors in double figures but it was not enough to lead the hosts to victory over their rivals in front of what ESU had scheduled as "White Out" crowd on Thursday night.
ESU shot 54.7 % (29-of-53) from the field and was 3-for-12 (25.0 %) from beyond the arc, with just one make on seven attempts in the second half. ESU was also sent to the line 37 times as the Golden Rams had 30 fouls called upon them, but the Warriors were unable to make the most of these extra opportunities, shooting just 56.8 % (21-for-37) at the stripe in the loss.
East Stroudsburg ended the game with a 35-27 rebounding advantage, including a 12-9 edge on the offensive glass, which led to a narrow 13-10 second-chance point lead. West Chester did end the game with a 16-12 lead in turnovers and a 12-10 lead in points off turnovers.
The Golden Ram bench, which is among the best in both Division II and PSAC, outscored the Warriors bench 33-28 on Thursday, led by 19 points from Williams on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, including three makes from three-point range, and a clutch 6-for-6 effort at the charity stripe.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday at home against Mansfield, beginning at 3 p.m.
