MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- The West Chester University men's basketball team (20-7, 14-6) took to the road on Wednesday night to conclude its regular-season series against rival Millersville (20-8, 15-6) with a share of the PSAC East Regular Season title on the line. West Chester stormed back to force overtime but fell to the Marauders in the 215
th meeting between two of the league's oldest rivals by an 82-76 final in overtime.
West Chester trailed for much of the game but closed regulation on a 10-2 run, which saw the team erase a late eight-point deficit and lead with under 30 seconds to play before Saraj Ali hit a layup, which forced overtime. In overtime against the Marauders for the first time since a double OT classic in Hollinger in February 2023, West Chester was just 2-for-7 (28.6 %) from the field and 1-for-4 at the line, while Millersville shot 66.7 (2-for-3) from the field and 87.5 % (7-of-8) at the line to earn a season sweep of West Chester for the first time since 2023-24.
Tonight's OT setback also denied West Chester its first win in Pucillo Gymnasiums since January 2019, when the team won by a 72-63 final as part of an 11-game winning streak over the Marauders.
Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) was one of six Golden Rams in double figures with 14 points, scoring eight of his 14 at the free throw line (8-for-11) along with nine rebounds.
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) added 13 of his own along with six rebounds, while
Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading) scored 11.
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), Dinari Boykin (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley), and
Jaysean Williams (Bloomfield, Ct./The Patrick School) all finished with 10. Rodriguez Jr. also came away with a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double, while also finishing with four steals and three assists. Blair added eight rebounds and four assists to his 10 points in the near comeback.
West Chester struggled from the field on Wednesday night, shooting just 26.5 % (18-of-68), including a 6-for-21 (28.6 %) effort from beyond the arc, but was 34-for-48 (70.8 %) at the line, including a 23-for-27 (85.2 %) in the second half in the overtime loss.
West Chester found itself down 17-9 with eight minutes complete in the first half before a 5-0 run, led by five points from Rodriguez Jr., cut the deficit to 18-14 with eight minutes to play in the first half.
Millersville took a 22-15 lead with 6:10 to play, but scored just two points the remainder of the half as West Chester closed the half on a 9-2 run, punctuated by a late three from Rodriguez Jr. to tie the score at 24-24 heading into the halftime break.
Rodriguez Jr. tied with Day Waters to lead all scorers in the first half with nine points each.
West Chester shot just 19.4 % (6-of-31) from the field, including a 2-for-9 (22.2 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also going 10-for-17 at the line, but forced 11 Millersville turnovers to keep the Marauders in check through the first 20 minutes.
Millersville shot 33.3 % (8-of-24) from the field in the first half, including a 2-for-12 (16.7 %) effort from three-point range, while also going 6-for-9 (66.7 %) at the line.
A three-point play by Moss gave West Chester a 29-26 lead with 16:47 to play before Millersville went on a run to take a 43-34 lead with 11:55 to play after back-to-back made threes by Waters and Malcolm Dread.
Waters led Millersville on the 14-5 run, which erased the early three-point deficit and gave the hosts a nine-point lead, scoring 14 of the 17 points as Millersville was 5-for-6 from the field and 4-for-5 from three-point range during this four-minute surge.
Joe Sedora (York, Pa./Red Lion) cut the deficit to seven with just over 11 minutes to play before Rodriguez Jr. knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 43-38 with 10:57 remaining.
West Chester continued to battle, cutting the Millersville lead to 45-42 with 8:52 to play when
Gavin Dalen (Milford, Ohio/Milford) hit a jumper off a Rodriguez Jr. layup miss, but Aamir Hurst had a quick answer for Millersville with a jumper of his own to restore a 47-42 lead with 8:28 to play.
Williams helped West Chester get the deficit back to one with a 4-0 run at the free throw line as West Chester worked to counter the Marauder run with a 12-4 run of its own over four minutes to trail 47-46 with 7:15 to play.
Millersville responded with a 6-2 run to take a 53-48 lead with under six minutes to play before Williams went 2-for-2 at the line yet again to keep West Chester within a basket (53-50) with 5:30 remaining.
Saraj Ali answered Williams with an old-fashioned three-point play as he hit a layup and was fouled in the process, restoring a 56-50 Marauder lead.
Trailing 68-60 with 1:24 to play after a Saraj Ali jumper, West Chester went on an 8-0 run, punctuated by a Williams three with 31 seconds to play, which tied the score at 68-68.
With a chance to have the final possession of the game, West Chester forced a big Millersville turnover, and McCall went 2-for-2 at the line after being fouled as he regained possession to stretch the run to 10-0 and give West Chester a 70-68 lead.
Saraj Ali answered for Millersville with a layup with eight seconds to play and was fouled in the process, giving the Marauders a chance to take a 71-70 lead at the free throw line with eight seconds to play. Ali missed his free throw, and a last-second three-pointer attempt by
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) was off the mark, forcing overtime to decide a victor.
In overtime against Millersville for the first time since a thrilling double overtime win in Hollinger in February 2023, West Chester turned the ball over on its opening possession and found itself down three early as Hurst converted the Golden Rams' 17th turnover of the night into a three-pointer to take an early 73-70 lead.
Moss answered with a layup less than 20 seconds to trim the Marauder lead back to one, but Millersville held off the West Chester comeback bid for a crucial 82-76 victory over the Golden Rams on Wednesday night.
Millersville shot 44.0 % (22-of-50) from the field in the win, including a 7-for-22 (31.8 %) effort from three-point range, while also going 31-for-41 (75.6 %) at the line in a game, which featured 89 free throws between the two teams.
Day Waters led Millersville in scoring with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including four makes from three-point range, while Hurst and Ali added 21 and 18, respectively. Ali scored 12 of his 18 at the free throw line, while also going 3-for-5 from the field. Cesar Tchilombo led the team in rebounding with eight, along with three steals and three blocks.
West Chester finished the game with a 47-35 lead in rebounding, including a 24-8 edge on the offensive glass, which resulted in a 36-1 lead in second-chance points and 22 points in the paint.
West Chester also won the turnover battle (18-17) and finished the game with 19 points off turnovers. West Chester's bench also outscored Millersville's bench 18-13, led by 10 from Williams, with seven of his 10 coming at the free throw line.
The Playoff Picture…Wednesday's victory gave Millersville at least a share of the PSAC East Regular Season crown with a season sweep of the Golden Rams. West Chester will battle East Stroudsburg on Saturday afternoon, with the winner earning a share of the Eastern Division crown and the accompanying bye/home quarterfinal. If West Chester defeats East Stroudsburg, the Golden Rams would be the two seed in the PSAC Tournament, while a loss would make East Stroudsburg the top seed by virtue of their sweep of Millersville, and West Chester would enter the PSAC Tournament as the third or fourth seed depending on Shepherd's result vs Bloomsburg. If West Chester becomes the third or fourth seed, the Golden Rams would host a First Round game on Monday night against either Lock Haven or Shippensburg.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday for its regular-season finale against East Stroudsburg, beginning at 3 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early, as Saturday will also be Senior Day for the Golden Rams.
