Edinboro, Pa. – The Edinboro men's basketball team came up on the wrong end of an 80-79 decision falling to visiting West Chester Saturday evening inside McComb Fieldhouse.
 
Bryce Baez gave the Scots a 63-54 lead with a layup at the 10:56 mark. West Chester answered with 11 straight points capped by an Anthony Purnell jumper with 9:02 to play to give the Golden Rams a 65-63 lead.
 
Steve Kelly gave the Scots the lead back with a triple at the 8:44 mark. Dylan Blair made it 67-66 with a layup to put West Chester back ahead. Ryan Ladjevich swung it back to 68-67 with a layup of his own with 8:12 on the clock.
 
The teams traded the lead twice more before a pair of Blair free throws put the Golden Rams up 71-70 with 5:02 to play. West Chester scored four straight points to take a 77-72 lead advantage with 1:04 to play. Evan Berger hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead back to 77-75 at the 49 second mark. Elijah Allen scored a layup and Baez answered to pull Edinboro withing 79-77 with 25 seconds left. Blair split a pair of free throws to make it 80-77 with 22 seconds remaining. Baez scored a bucket with 3 seconds to go cutting the lead to 80-79. Purnell missed the front end of a one-and-one, but the Scots couldn't get off a shot at the end of the game setting the final.
 
Edinboro held a 35-34 lead at the half. West Chester came out of the break scoring the first four points to take a 38-35 lead. Ladjevich tied the game with a trey at the 18:49 mark of the second. Allen completed the old-fashioned 3-point play to give the Golden Rams the lead back 41-38.
 
Evan Berger hit a 3-pointer with 18:10 on the clock sparking a 21-8 run capped by three Michael Dunn free throws to make it 59-49 Edinboro.
 
In the first half, West Chester opened the game up with a 4-2 lead. Edinboro responded with a 14-2 run taking a 16-6 lead after a Kelly 3-pointer with 13:44 on the clock. West Chester answered back with a 9-3 run of their own trimming the lead to 19-15 with 11:26 left in the first half.
 
The Scots scored seven straight on a Ladjevich trey and layups by Daunte Wilcott and Mekhi Reynolds to take a 26-15 lead with 9:39 remaining in the first. The Edinboro lead would grow to 12, 31-19, after a Wilcott triple with 7:36 left in the half. West Chester finished the half on a 16-4 spurt to cut the halftime lead to 35-34.
 
Five Scots reached double figure scoring led by 15 points from Dunn. Baez added 14 points and seven rebounds. Berger also notched 14 points to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Kelly chipped in 12 points, four helpers, and two steals. Ladjevich tallied a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 17 rebounds as well as five assists.
 
Allen led the Golden Rams with 19 points. Blair added 17 and Davante Dennis finished with 14 points.
 
The Scots finished with a 39-28 advantage on the boards. Edinboro also hit 14-of-34 from beyond the arc, but West Chester shot 12-of-15 from the free throw line while the Scots only attempted three free throws.
 
The Scots are back in action on Tuesday when they make the trip to Roberts Wesleyan. Tip off is slated for 6:30 p.m.