West Chester Upsets Bloomsburg In First Round Of PSAC Tournament, 84-77

Box Score

BOOMSBURG, Pa. – Jackson Hyland (Avondale, Pa./Kennett) and Tyrell Long (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) each registered double-doubles, and West Chester put five players in double figures, to pull off an upset, 84-77, over host Bloomsburg in the first round of the PSAC Men's Basketball Tournament Monday evening.
 
West Chester (14-14) advances to the conference quarterfinals and will travel to top-seeded Kutztown on Wednesday. The Golden Rams' win avenges two setbacks to Bloomsburg in the regular-season.
 
Zach Bare (Reiserstown, Md./St. Paul's) scored six points during a West Chester 8-0 run that pushed The Golden Rams' lead to double digits, 74-64, with four minutes to play. That gave the visitor's the breathing room that they needed to get out of Nelson Field House with the win.
 
West Chester put five players in double figures. Long finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Malik Jackson (Lansdowne, Pa./Penn Wood) had 12 points, before fouling out. Thomas White (Chester, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) posted 13 points and grabbed eight boards. Hyland posted 16 points and 11 caroms off the glass. Matt Penecale (Jenkintown, Pa./Abington) finished with 11.
 
West Chester put together a pair of mini runs consisting of five points each to open things up in the first half. Long sparked one rally with three of the five that knotted the game early, 18-all. Then, White had three of five points to put the Golden Rams in the lead, 36-30 with 3:13 left.
 
Jackson had 12 of his 16 in the first half, adding six rebounds while Long scored 10 of his 19 in the first half and grabbed five boards. That duo was largely responsible for the Rams' one-point lead at the break.
 
Meanwhile, on the defensive end of the floor, West Chester's box-and-1 tied up Bloomsburg leading scorer, Christian Mortellite, the entire first half. He went into the locker room without a point in the first 20 minutes.