SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- The West Chester University men's basketball team (17-6, 11-5) returned to action for the final game of a five-game, 10-day stretch at Shippensburg (12-11, 7-9). West Chester nearly erased a 19-point halftime deficit for its sixth comeback victory of the year, but Shippensburg did just enough to hold off the Golden Rams for an 85-74 victory on Saturday afternoon.
West Chester took a one-point (8-7) lead with five minutes gone by in the first half before the Raiders went on a 7-0 run to take a 14-8 lead with 13:05 left in the first half.
The Raiders would not trail again for the remainder of the half, holding a 21-18 lead with 9:30 to play before using a 19-3 run to take a 43-24 lead en route to a 46-27 lead at the half.
Led by seven points from
Anthony McCall (Philadelphia, Pa./ANC), West Chester shot just 38.5 % (10-of-26) from the field, including a 4-for-9 (44.4 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also going 3-for-5 (60.0 %) at the line.
Led by 16 first-half points on 7-of-9 shooting from Markus Frank, who remains among the top scorers in the PSAC, Shippensburg shot 61.5 % (16-of-26) from the field, including a 5-for-8 (62.5 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also going 9-for-12 (75.0 %) at the line.
West Chester cut into the 19-point halftime deficit quickly to open the second half, trimming the Shippensburg lead to seven to start the second half, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in the first four minutes, led by six points from
Dylan Blair (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) on a pair of made threes. West Chester continued its comeback as Shippensburg found itself on a three-and-a-half-minute-long scoreless streak, which allowed the Golden Rams to claw back to within five with 15 minutes to play after a
Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading) jumper.
Following a media timeout with 14:47 to play, Shippensburg went to the line, and Jaydon Smith improved to 9-for-9 at the free throw line to restore a 52-45 lead.
Joe Sedora (York, Pa./Red Lion) kept the comeback going with a layup as Shippensburg continued to search for a field goal end its drought. Smith halted the run with just under 13 minutes to play, which gave the Raiders a 54-47 lead as the Golden Rams continued their comeback bid.
Looking for its sixth and largest second-half comeback win of the season, West Chester cut the Shippensburg lead to 56-51 with 11:37 to play as the game hit the under-12 media timeout.
After making five of six field goals, Shippensburg retained a 73-66 lead with five minutes remaining before a Frank jumper stretched the Raider lead to 75-66 and the run to 7-0, while West Chester's scoreless streak passed the two-minute mark. Another jumper by Frank extended the Raider lead back to 11 (77-66) before McCall came through with a dunk, which cut the deficit back to single digits with four minutes to play.
Unfortunately, single digits was as close as West Chester could get to coming all the way back as Shippensburg held off the Golden Rams for an 85-74 victory on Saturday afternoon.
McCall led West Chester in scoring with 18 points, while
Gabe Moss (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) and Blair added 13 and 11 to go along with 10 points from
Jaysean Williams (Bloomfield, Ct./The Patrick School). McCall led West Chester in rebounding with seven, while Rodriguez Jr. was limited to four points but added six rebounds and five assists.
After a slow start offensively, West Chester gave Shippensburg all it could handle in the second half, shooting 60.7 % (17-of-28) from the field, including four makes from beyond the arc to shoot 50.0 % (27-of-54) from the field and 42.1 % (8-of-19) from three-point range, while also finishing the game 12-for-22 (54.5 %) at the line.
Smith scored 30 points, including 14 of those points at the free throw line, while Frank added 25 of his own on 50-of-15 shooting along with a team-best six rebounds.
After a red-hot start to the game offensively, Shippensburg finished the game shooting 54.3 % (25-of-46) from the field, including a 53.8 % (7-of-13) from three-point range, while also going 28-for-35 (80.0 %) at the line. The Raiders shot 45.0 % (9-of-20) from the field, including two makes from beyond the arc in the second half.
Shippensburg finished the game with a 31-25 lead in rebounding, including a 20-14 lead on the defensive glass. This effort helped the Raiders finish the game with a 17-8 lead in second-chance points and 32 points in the paint.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Wednesday night at home against Bloomsburg, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
