KUTZTOWN, Pa.-Ruben Rodirguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading) led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and a 6-for-6 effort at the line to help lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (17-5,11-4) to a 73-53 victory over Kutztown (5-14, 2-12) on Wednesday night inside Keystone Arena.
Rodriguez Jr. also led the team in assists with seven to go along with four rebounds and was one of three Golden Rams in double figures as
Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) and
Dinari Boykin (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) scored 13 and 12, respectively. Boykin was a team-best 3-for-5 from three-point range, while also going 4-for-6 from the field overall and 1-for-2 at the line. Moss led the team in rebounding with nine and also logged a team-best two blocks in 29 minutes of action.
West Chester shot 48.3 % (14-of-29) from the field in the second half, including a 42.9 % (6-of-14) effort from three-point range to shake off a slow start offensively and roll to the 20-point victory. The Golden Rams finished the game shooting 41.3 % (26-of-63) from the field and 29.2 % (7-of-24) from three-point range, while also going 14-for-16 (90.0 %) at the line, including a 9-of-10 effort in the second half.
West Chester trailed for only 14 seconds and was tied for only a moment more as the team led for 38:32 and led by as many as 22 with 1:22 to play in a near wire-to-wire victory over the Golden Bears, as the Golden Rams depart Keystone Arena with another season sweep of Kutztown.
West Chester jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before Kutztown answered with an 11-8 run to pull within two (13-11) with eight minutes to play in the first half. Rodriguez Jr. halted a 5-0 Golden Bear run with a layup, which gave West Chester a 15-11 lead, but Jalen Bryant had an answer from three-point range less than 20 seconds later to cut the lead to one (15-14) with seven minutes left in the first half. Jordan Nkoa Abessolo hit a three-pointer of his own with 6:20 left in the first half that gave the hosts a 17-15 lead before West Chester went on an 8-0 run, led by four points from Rodriguez Jr. and punctuated by a
Larenzo Jerkins (Chester, Pa./Neumann Goretti) to take a 23-17 lead with 3:30 to play.
This 8-0 run was part of a larger run, which saw West Chester outscore its hosts 15-4 over the final five-and-a-half minutes of the first half, led by five points from
Dinari Boykin (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley), including a make from three-point range with 1:49 to play, which was the Golden Rams first and only made three of the first half.
Despite shooting just 35.3 % (12-of-34) from the field in the first half, including a 1-for-10 (10.0 %) effort from three-point range, West Chester carried a 30-21 lead into the halftime break, led by Rodriguez Jr., who scored eight points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field along with four rebounds and three assists.
Nkoa Abessolo led Kutztown in scoring in the first half with seven points on 3-of-7 shooting as the Golden Bears shot 36.0 % (9-of-25) from the field, including a 2-for-7 (28.6 %) effort from beyond the arc.
Boykin hit his and West Chester's second three of the game less than a minute into the first half to give West Chester a 35-23 lead before
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC) hit the first three of the night with 17:20 to play to give West Chester a 40-27 lead.
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) got West Chester to 50 points with a three of his own with 12:44 to play, giving the visiting Golden Rams a 50-35 lead as part of a 5-0 run in response to a 5-0 run by Kutztown.
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Jaysean Williams (Bloomfield, Ct./The Patrick School) three with 11:19 to play was West Chester's last make from the field until
Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) hit a layup with 5:57 to play but the Golden Rams 6-for-6 at the line over the following five minutes without a field goal to take a 59-44 lead over the Golden Bears with 6:18 to play.
West Chester stretched its lead to 71-49 with two minutes to play when
Xavier Vann (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) hit a three of his own, the Golden Rams' sixth of the second half, as part of a 6-0 run by the Golden Rams.
Gavin Dalen (Milford, Ohio/Milford) scored the final points of the game for West Chester with a layup with 47 seconds to play as the Golden Rams cruised to a 73-53 victory at Kutztown on Wednesday night.
Josh McCoy and Nkoa Abessolo tied for the team lead in scoring with 13 points, while McCoy also led in rebounding with six rebounds in the loss.
Kutztown shot just 32.7 % (17-of-52) from the field and 2-for-27 (11.8 %) from beyond the arc, including a 0-for-10 effort in the second half. Kutztown also shot 16-of-24 (66.7 %) at the line in the second half, shooting 68.0 % (17-of-25) for the night.
Led by nine rebounds from Moss, West Chester ended the game with a 44-32 lead in rebounding, including a 19-12 lead on the offensive glass, which resulted in a 21-11 lead in second-chance points and a 32-26 lead in points in the paint. West Chester also won the turnover battle by one and finished the game with 10 points off turnovers and an 8-7 lead in fast break points.
Joe Sedora (York, Pa./Red Lion) led West Chester's bench in scoring with eight points and four rebounds, and helped West Chester finish the game with an 18-6 lead in points off the bench.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Saturday at Shippensburg beginning at 3 p.m.
