WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting as one of four Golden Rams in double figures to help lead the West Chester University men's basketball team (19-10) to a 76-66 victory over Shepherd (13-15) in the First Round of the PSAC Tournament on Monday night.

West Chester trailed throughout the first half but held Shepherd scoreless for an over eight-minute stretch between the end of the first half and the start of the second half while going on a 21-3 run over the same nine-minute span to erase a 31-21 deficit and take a 42-34 lead that the Golden Rams would never relinquish. Allen sparked this run with a four-point play, draining a three and getting fouled in the act with 2:54 to play in the first half. Shepherd countered with a three of its own with 2:05 to play in the first half, but this was the Rams final made basket until the 13:40 mark of the second half as West Chester claimed an eight-point lead. The Golden Rams stretched their lead to as many as 16 with 5:49 to play after a made three by Robert Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) as he finished with 17 in the victory.

Shepherd was far from finished, using a 14-4 run to cut the Golden Ram lead to 71-66 with 25 seconds remaining. West Chester closed out the game at the free throw line, going 5-for-6 at the stripe down the stretch to advance to the PSAC Quarterfinals for the 12^th consecutive season.

Allen and Smith finished with 21 and 17; Joshua Walker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) came away with a double-double, scoring 14 points along with 10 rebounds, while Jordan Kellier (Kingston, Jamaica/Redemption Christian) narrowly missed a double-double, scoring 11 points, while also corralling nine rebounds.

Looking for its first PSAC Tournament win in program history; Shepherd raced out to an early 8-0 lead in the first two minutes, prompting a quick West Chester timeout. The early Golden Ram timeout seemed to do its job as West Chester broke its early game scoreless drought and cut the deficit to 15-9 with 15 minutes to play in the first half.

West Chester continued its comeback bid as a put back layup by Moro Osumanu (Reading, Pa./Reading) trimmed the deficit to 17-15 at the under-12 media timeout. West Chester continued its comeback, cutting the deficit to 21-19, but Shepherd continued to lead, pulling back ahead to a 34-25 lead with 1:36 to play until halftime.

The Golden Rams continued their comeback bid as the first half continued, cutting the deficit to four after a driving layup in transition by Walker, but this is as close as WCU would get before the break, trailing 34-30 at the midway point.

After a cold start to the game offensively, West Chester shot an even 50.0 % (13-of-26) from the field in the first half, including a 2-of-5 effort from three-point range, while also going 2-for-4 at the line to open the game.

Allen led all scorers in the first half, finishing with 13 points on an impressive 5-of-7 shooting. For Shepherd, Carson Poffenberger led the team in scoring with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, including a 2-for-3 effort from beyond the arc. The Rams shot 44.8 % (13-of-29) in the first half, including a 5-for-17 (29.4 %) effort from beyond the arc, while also going 3-for-4 (75.0 %) at the line.

West Chester earned back-to-back trips to the line to start the second half and, in doing so, took its first lead of the game at 36-34 with just under 19 minutes remaining. West Chester continued to string together big defensive stops to take a 38-34 lead into the under-16 media timeout.

West Chester never relinquished this lead, stretching its advantage to 16 with 5:49 to play after Smith made a three off an assist from Allen, taking its largest lead of the game.
Shepherd put together an impressive run late in the game, using a 14-4 run late to cut the deficit down to five in the late stages of the second half. West Chester closed out the game with a 5-0 run at the free throw line to escape with a 76-66 victory.

Phillip Jordan led Shepherd in scoring with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, while Dan McClain-Corley scored 16 on 5-of-16 shooting to go along with 11 points from Carson Poffenberger. Poffenberger also led Shepherd in rebounding, finishing with eight rebounds, including five on the offensive glass in the setback.

West Chester ended the game with a 40-30 lead in rebounding, including a 12-10 advantage on the offensive glass, which led to a 17-12 lead in second-chance points. West Chester also ended the game with a 26-24 lead in points in the paint and a 13-10 lead in points off the break, and a 13-11 lead in points off the bench, led by seven from Anthony Purnell Jr. (Chester, Pa./Kiski), who scored seven points after going 5-for-6 at the line.

Shepherd shot 40.0 % (24-of-60) from the field and 22.6 % (7-of-31) from three-point range while also going 11-for-17 (64.7 %) at the charity stripe.

Shepherd ended the game with a 16-11 lead in turnovers, which resulted in a 25-11 lead in points off turnovers.

Up Next:

West Chester will make its 12^th consecutive PSAC Quarterfinal appearance on Wednesday night at Lock Haven beginning at 7:30 p.m.