WEST CHESTER – If the past week is any indication, there is little doubt who is the top men’s college basketball squad in Chester County.
With Tuesday’s 95-52 non-league triumph over visiting Lincoln at Hollinger Field House, West Chester went 2-0 against its local NCAA brethren by a combined 112 points. Six days earlier, WCU blasted Division III Immaculata, setting program records for both points (128) and margin of victory (69) in the process.
“I don’t think our flow offensively was as good as we want it to be, but we got some good cuts and finished around the basket,” said West Chester head coach Damien Blair.
“The intensity on the defensive end is something we’ve been talking about from day one. When you get a lead sometimes you want to back off. But our mentality is we are going to play one way regardless of the score and who we are playing. I think that is going to propel us to, maybe, the next level.”
Powered by a near perfect outing by senior Anthony McCall – who did not miss a shot from the field and finished with 26 points – West Chester shot well throughout (.594 percent) to steadily pull away.
“I can say that my teammates put me in a position to score,” said McCall, who transferred from Rider (N.J.) prior to the 2024-25 season.
“We call that an ‘A’ game,” Blair added. “I don’t think today was an ‘A’ game for us. But today was an ‘A’ game for (McCall). The ball just kind of found Ant, and he made shots.”
The Rams (5-1 overall) improve to 9-3 in the all-time series against the Lions (1-3). West Chester has now won five straight heading into Saturday’s PSAC opener against a Pitt-Johnstown squad that dropped a two-point decision to Lincoln last month.
“There was an energy I felt all day with the team,” said McCall, who went 10-for-10 from the field. “Everybody came prepared and hyped to play.
“When we came in for shootaround, coach (Blair) was saying ‘don’t let (Lincoln’s) height affect you. It is more about our heart and how we are going to play.’ I felt like everybody’s mindset heading in was not being scared but buying into what we had to do to get the win.”
For second-year head coach Julius Hodge, the Lions have dropped three in a row and will play four more non-conference games before opening CIAA play Dec. 15th versus Winston-Salem State. Lincoln does not have a senior on its roster and will play just eight home games this season – at Wilmington’s Chase Field House or Oxford High School – while on-campus Rivero Hall is undergoing a renovation.
Hodge declined an invitation to the post-game press conference.
“Lincoln is coming off a long break. It’s tough to have that and play somebody on their home floor who is playing well. They; are well coached and (Hodge) does a good job over there.”
Deadlocked early, McCall sparked a 13-2 by scoring 11 points in a row to give the Rams a 27-16 lead midway through the first half. West Chester proceeded to pour it on and led 48-20 at the half.
“This team is the sum of the parts,” Blair said. “We’ve been talking about being really consistent in everything that we do. If I can somehow get them to do that, then I think we have a special team.”
And when the Lions tried to crawl back into contention with a barrage of 3-pointers early in the second period, promising true freshman Jaysean Williams along with sophomore’s Joe Sedora and Gavin Dalen helped keep WCU comfortably ahead.
Senior forward Gabe Moss scored 12 of his 13 points in the first half, and junior Ruben Rodriguez chipped in 10 points and six assists. The Rams finished with 24 assists on 38 made buckets.
“I can’t be more proud of the guys as far as sharing the ball,” Blair said. “In this day and age, (players) just want to pound the ball and take it to the rim. But these guys love and trust each other, like playing with each other, and they are making the extra pass. It’s just a better flow, and that’s one of the reasons why the (shooting) percentage is so high.”
In addition, West Chester had pronounced advantages in areas like points in the paint (60-22), points off turnovers (28-5) and on the boards (42-25). And WCU’s full-court pressure defense forced 17 turnovers.
“Our press has been good, but it’s actually getting even better,” McCall pointed out. “It all starts on the defensive end for us. Once our defense is clicking, then the offense comes.”
“We don’t really have a guy on offense. We have multiple guys, so when the ball is flying around, there are more opportunities for everybody to get going. That’s when you see a stat sheet like tonight with all of the assists.”
Lincoln shot just .385 from the field. Sophomore guards Draven Pilson and Julius Olanrewaju paced the Lions with nine points apiece.
West Chester 95, Lincoln 52
LINCOLN – Pilson 3-6 0-0 9; Shillingford 1-4 1-2 3; Sanders 1-70-1 2; Johnson 3-9 2-2 8; Olanrewaju 3-6 0-0 9; Tropnas 4-6 0-1 8; Bridges 0-1 0-0 0; Fall 1-2 0-0 2; Fields 1-1 0-3 2; Morgan 0-4 1-2 1; Anderson 3-6 0-0 8. Totals 20-52 4-11 52.
WEST CHESTER – Moss 6-9 1-2 13; Rodriguez 4-7 2-2 10; Blair 0-2 2-2 2; Boykin 1-4 0-0 3; McCall 10-10 4-6 26; Sedora 3-4 1-2 7; Vann 1-4 1-2 3; Grey 0-1 0-0 0; Grey 0-1 0-0 0; Williams 3-4 0-0 8; Dalen 2-4 0-1 4; Jerkins 1-2 2-4 Varano 2-5 0-0 4; Boys 2-5 0-0 4; Fromhartz 4-5 0-0 9. Totals 38-64 13-21 95.
Halftime: WCU 48-20.
Three pointers: Pilson 3, Olanrewaju 3, Anderson 2, Boykin, McCall 2, Williams 2, Fromhartz.
Source: Berkshire mont
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