City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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West Chester finally got over the hump against East Stroudsburg.

In arguably the Rams biggest game of the season to date, they exorcised demons of the past seven seasons against the Warriors and came from behind for an 81-73 victory on Tuesday night in the PSAC quarterfinals. It was just West Chester’s second victory in its last 16 meetings against East Stroudsburg, and the first in three tries against the team’s conference foe this season.

“It’s awesome. We beat them when it counts,” said West Chester senior Matt Wiseley, who pulled in a game-high 17 rebounds and was a part of seven consecutive losses to East Stroudsburg entering Tuesday. “After playing them all these years and losing, it’s great to be able to beat them and defend our home court.”

The Rams improved to 22-5 with the victory, putting themselves in good position for a potential NCAA Tournament bid. They can improve their chances in a semifinal game in which they will host IUP on Saturday.

East Stroudsburg’s dominance against West Chester dates back to the 2010 season, and it was on full display in January when the Warriors left the Rams’ Hollinger Fieldhouse with an 87-60 drubbing of the home team.  And for a while on Tuesday night, it seemed that trend was going to continue.

The Warriors (21-7) led by nine at halftime and were up by 11 three minutes into the second half. But West Chester was not going to go away. The Rams went on a 16-5 run to tie the game at 52-52 and then on another 15-2 spurt later in the game to take a 10-point lead with six minutes left.

In the game’s final 17 minutes, the Rams outscored East Stroudsburg, 45-26.

“I just think we didn’t get phased,” freshman guard Matt Penecale said. “We kept our composure and we played hard the whole game.”

Penecale was instrumental in that first run which tied the game. He scored five straight points to get West Chester within three, and then he had the assist on Tyrell Long’s triple to tie the game.

A freshman guard from Abington High School, Penecale finished with a team-best 18 points and added five assists. Meanwile, Malik Jackson, a fellow freshman and Penn Wood grad, socred 14 points and had a crucial 3-pointer which rattled home from the corner with 2:20 left to push the Rams’ lead back to eight points.

“Once you start hitting some shots and guys get confidence, it changes the complexion of the game,” said West Chester coach Damien Blair, who is coaching from the sidelines from a chair and on crutches after tearing his Achilles tendon at a practice a few weeks ago. “Avery (Brown) hit a couple of big threes, and Penecale got in there and started making some plays. After that, it was over.”

Overall, West Chester shot 44.4 percent in the game and 48 percent from the floor in the second half. This helped the Rams overcome a sub-par 23-for-41 showing from the foul line.

The Warriors – who have a Philadelphia-laden roster with four players from the city and three more from the area – were led by Quindell Jones’ 16 points. Freshman guard Najee Walls (La Salle College HS) notched nine points and added six assists.

This is the second time in three years the Rams have made it to the PSAC semifinals. Two years ago, they reached the final where they lost to their old nemesis East Stroudsburg, though they still reached the NCAA Tournament.

And even though the recent scales are still very much tipped in the Warriors favor, the team is happy to have a win freshest on their minds for the rest of the playoffs.

“We played them in a few championship games, and they got the best of us,” Blair said. “They’ve had some really good players, but I like the group that we have moving forward. Whenever you get a win in a playoff game, it’s always a big win, but to beat East Stroudsburg with the rivalry we’ve had, it’s even bigger.”