Box Score LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Lock Haven University men's basketball team (14-8, 7-5 PSAC East) dropped an epic Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East overtime battle to visiting West Chester (16-7, 9-4 PSAC East) 87-84 tonight.
 
Wali Hepburn (Philadelphia/Neumann-Goretti) led all scorers with 23 points.
 
It marked the second the time this season the new PSAC East rivals needed overtime to settle the score. West Chester beat the Bald Eagles 91-87 (OT) back on January 11 in West Chester.
 
The game was a pivotal one in the PSAC East standings. With the win, West Chester remains in third place alone and clinched a playoff berth. LHU currently sits fourth overall in the standings.
 
Both No. 6 East Stroudsburg, who beat Shippensburg and Bloomsburg, who was off tonight clinched playoff berths as well, following tonight's action.  
 
Hepburn, the reigning Co-PSAC East Player of the Week was 8-for-22 form the field and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw stripe on the way to this game-high 27 points. He also had two rebounds and six assists.
 
Hepburn was one of four players in double figures for LHU.
 
Kasheef Festus (Philadelphia/Archbishop Carroll) added 22 points and five rbounds.
 
Bootsie Walker (Chester, Pa./Chester) knocked down 14 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Al Blount Jr. (Northampton, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) netted a pair of three's on his way to a 10-point outing.
 
The list of strong contributors for Lock Haven was long as Nate Walters (Reedsville, Pa./Indian Valley) added six points and six rebounds. Theo West (Philadelphia/Kensington) chipped in with six points and three boards.
 
The Golden Rams has four players' net double figures as well. Leading the way was Troy Hockaday's 17 points.
 
It what proved to be an up-and-down, fast-paced game from the start, the two teams' battled to a 40-40 halftime stalemate.
 
A Walker-layup with 1:15 left in regulation tied the game for Lock Haven at 77-77. It proved to be the final made basket of the game as both teams had had several opportunities in the last minute to win the game.
 
The back-and-forth battle continued in overtime until Ben Mingledough's layup put WCU up three, 85-82 with 1:16 to play.
 
Walker made another huge layup for Lock Haven with 10 seconds left to make it a one-point game at 85-84 WCU, but a pair of Shannon Givens' free-throws with eight seconds to go stretched the Golden Rams lead back to three at 87-84. The Bald Eagles couldn't' get a last-second three-pointer to fall as West Chester survived "The House of Noise" for the important road-win.
 
The loss snapped a five-game home win streak for LHU, who is now 1-2 in overtime this season.
 
The Bald Eagles return to action on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Mansfield University (3 p.m.).
 
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Game Notes:
Prior to tonight's tip, the Bald Eagles honored Wali Hepburn, who scored his 1,000^th career point last Thursday (Feb. 6) vs. East Stroudsburg … Hepburn is the 16^th LHU men's player to reach 1,000 points … On Monday (Feb. 10), Hepburn was named the PSAC East Player of the Week … It marked the third time this year Hepburn has earned the honor … Last Thursday's win over ESU marked a milestone night for the Bald Eagles … Coming into the game, then-ranked No. 3 East Stroudsburg was the last remaining undefeated team in Division II and one of just four remaining undefeated teams in all of college basketball. Division I Wichita State (26-0) and Syracuse (23-0), along with DIII Cabrini (19-0) are the other three. The Warriors held the longest active win streak in DII at 20 games … Last Thursday's win was Lock Haven's first over a ranked team since the Bald Eagles beat No. 23 Bloomsburg on December 20, 2006 and is the highest ranked (No. 3) opponent LHU has ever beat … The win of ESU was Lock Haven's 14th of the year, the most since The Haven went 14-12 in 1992-93 … With the win over ESU, Lock Haven also secured its first winning season in 21 years (1992-93) … LHU is in search of a 15-win season.Lock Haven hasn't had a 15-win season since the Bald Eagles went 26-7 in 1989-90 … Hepburn is second in the PSAC in scoring with 21.6 points per game … East Stroudsburg (22-1, 12-1 PSAC E) leads the East, while Bloomsburg (14-8, 9-3 PSAC E) and West Chester (16-7, 9-4 PSAC E) currently sit two-three – all three clinched playoff berths out of the East after tonight … LHU is in fourth.