West Chester opens season with road win

Three players reached double figures, and newcomer Jordan Kellier was one rebound shy of a double-double as West Chester’s men’s basketball team opened the 2023-24 campaign with a 68-61 victory over St. Augustine’s at the Trojan Tip-Off Classic Friday night.

Kellier, a transfer from Siena, finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds, to go along with a pair of blocked shots, in his West Chester debut. Robert Smith led the team with 19 points, and Elijah Allen contributed 16.

In a tight game that never saw a lead reach double figures for either side, West Chester turned a two-point game (60-58) into a win by outscoring St. Aug’s 8-3 over the final two-and-half minutes. The Golden Rams hit five of their last six free throws over that span while the Falcons went cold from the field missing on four of their five attempts – three of those from long range. Allen scored five of his 16 in that stretch, and Anthony Purnell made three of four from the line, including both with 17 seconds left that made it a threescore game.

St. Aug’s MacNasa Hughes nailed a 3-pointer with 6:34 left that gave the Falcons’ their final lead of the game at 55-54. West Chester answered with a 6-0 run with a pair of buckets from Kellier and a dunk by Josh Walker. That three-minute scoring drought proved to be costly for St. Augustine’s.

With 15 ties and 14 lead changes, the game was a back-and-forth affair for much of the night.

The Golden Rams shot the ball well from the floor in the first half, shooting 43.3 percent (13 of 30). However, they never did see much success from beyond the arc (5-for-26). What the Golden Rams did instead was pour in 32 points in the paint, outscoring the Falcons by 12 in that category. West Chester’s inside game and ability to get to the rim helped them on Friday.

Mekhi Reynolds contributed eight rebounds off the bench for West Chester. He finished with six points as well. Walker had four points and seven boards.