Eight Straight For WCU Men, 75-62

The following is a press release from the athletic department.

Senior Khalif Foster (ANC) scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead West Chester University’s men’s basketball team to its eighth straight victory, 75-62, over host Mansfield University in the PSAC East regular-season finale for both squads Saturday afternoon at Decker Gym.
 
West Chester (17-9, 14-8 PSAC) finishes third in the Eastern Division and will travel to second-seeded Bloomsburg for a PSAC quarterfinal round contest Tuesday evening in Nelson Fieldhouse. Mansfield (9-17, 6-16) lost four of its last six to close out the year.
 
The Golden Rams never trailed in the first half, pushing the lead to as many as 10 points on a few occasions. The visitor’s then opened the second half by holding their hosts scoreless over the first 3:17 to pushed what was a six-point halftime lead to nine (45-36).
 
However, West Chester went scoreless for a four-minute stretch that allowed Mansfield to crawl back into the game and tie things up at 49-apiece midway through the second half. A dunk by freshman Joe Bell gave the Mountaineers their only lead of the game. That is when the Golden Rams scored the next nine points of the contest to take the lead for good, 58-51.
 
West Chester eventually got the lead back to 10 with six minutes to go and would lead by as many as 15 down the stretch.
 
Foster’s 17 points were a season-high for the senior forward. Jaleel Mack was 3-for-3 from beyond the 3-point arc and finished with 14 points. Carl Johnson posted 12 points and Corey Blake 11.
 
Chuck Harper and Joe Bell each put up 14 points to lead Mansfield’s effort.
 
Bloomsburg held on and edged visiting Millersville, 72-71, in other PSAC action. The Marauders missed a 3-pointer, had a layup blocked and then turned the ball over all in the final 16 seconds trailing by one.
 
West Chester travels to Bloomsburg in the first round of the 2012 PSAC Tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the quarterfinals are priced at $7 for adults and $2 for students. Students of member institutions are admitted free with a valid student ID. No complimentary tickets will be allowed. Only conference passes will be accepted.
 
GAME NOTES: WCU will be making its 16th trip to the PSAC Tournament, but first since 2008-09 … it marks the second postseason bid for the Golden Rams under head coach Damien Blair and the highest seed the Rams have achieved under Blair … the other PSAC Eastern Division quarterfinal sees East Stroudsburg traveling to Kutztown for a 7 p.m. contest. Kutztown won the regular-season division title.