Dennis climbs into second place on all-time scoring chart as Kutztown wins 18th straight home game
KUTZTOWN, PA (December 5, 2009) – While fans braved the snowy conditions outside, the Kutztown University men's basketball team weathered a strong storm inside from the University of Sciences to win its 18th consecutive home game, 78-66, at Keystone Arena Saturday afternoon in non-conference action. (BOXSCORE)
Kutztown, ranked 12th in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll, turned aside a USP upset bid by making timely shots, getting key steals and staying poised to remain undefeated in the early season. Kutztown improved its overall record to 4-0. Meanwhile, a game USP squad fell to 0-6.
“Let's give Sciences all the credit,” Kutztown coach Bernie Driscoll said. “They played a heck of game and had a really good game plan against us. We were able to hang in there. We were very fortunate to win this game today.”
It helped that Kutztown had senior guard and Division II National Player of the Year candidate Stephen Dennis (West Chester, PA/Henderson) (West Chester/Henderson) on its side. Dennis scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to move into second place on the Kutztown men's basketball all-time scoring list. Dennis surpassed Lock Jennings, who was inducted into the KU Athletics Hall of Fame in October. Dennis has 1,689 career points. Jennings is now third with 1,682 points.
It was Dennis' second consecutive outing scoring 30 or more points. In addition, Dennis also finished with seven rebounds, four steals, four assists and four blocked shots. Dennis was also 16-for-18 from the foul line. Thirteen of his foul shots came in the final eight minutes as Kutztown broke a 50-50 tie.
“Passing a great player like Lock is nice, but I am focused on the team success,” Dennis said. “If the personal accomplishments come with our success then that's great and I am happy about that. We had to buckle down and make plays at the end.”
Also reaching double digits for the Golden Bears were junior guard Julius Gray (Lincoln University, PA/Oxford Area High School) (Lincoln University/Oxford) and junior forward Ryan Washington (Philadelphia, PA/Wissahickon) (Philadelphia/Wissahickon). Gray finished with 17 points and Washington contributed 16 points. Kutztown played the remaining seven minutes without Washington, who fouled out.
The Golden Bears also received sterling contributions from junior guard Steve Coffey (Reading, PA/Wilson) (Reading/Wilson) and sophomore forward Ryan White (Philadelphia, PA/Franklin Learning Center) (Philadelphia/Franklin Learning Center). They combined for 15 rebounds. Coffey finished with a career-high nine boards, seven points and two assists in 27 minutes. However, he did many of the little things that did not show up on the final stat sheet to help Kutztown.
“Steve Coffey (Reading, PA/Wilson) is a real energy kid for us,” Driscoll said. “He does a little of everything for us and I thought he gave us a lift today. I think our bench saved us today.”
The Devils placed three players in double figures with William Kernan leading the way with 16 points. Adewale Adefemi scored 15 points and Zaahid Holloman added 15 points for USP.
For the first 32 minutes of the game, the Kutztown gym was as silent as the snowflakes falling outside. When Adefemi made a baseline jumper to tie the game, 50-50 with eight minutes, 39 seconds remaining, Keystone Hall resembled a library as fans were slightly worried.
However, Coffey eased any concerns when he made an open jumper from the left side of the lane to give the Golden Bears the lead for good, 52-50, with 6:38 remaining. That kick-started a Kutztown 12-3 burst over the next two minutes. Dennis scored six points during the run and had an assist.
“I think the difference late in the game was we made our shots, moved the ball and attacked the basket,” Coffey said. “They did a good job of controlling the tempo. But we're a veteran team and we've been through this before so we just stepped it up as a team especially on defense.”
The first half featured 11 lead changes and nine ties as both squads battled to a 35-35 deadlock after the opening 20 minutes. Washington scored 14 points in the first half. The Devils opened a pair of six-point advantages in the opening five minutes of the second half before Kutztown found its groove.
Coffey tied the game at 45-45 with a short jumper with 11:57 remaining. Then he fed Gray for a 3-pointer on the Golden Bears' next possession that gave KU a 48-46 lead. Coffey was all over the court during the game, chasing loose balls, rising above bigger players to snatch rebounds and making clutch shots. Coffey enjoyed a memorable week for the Golden Bears. He had eight assists and seven rebounds in a victory over PSU-Berks early in the week.
“My role is to do whatever they need me to do,” Coffey said. “We have scorers. I just try to go in and play hard every night. We know teams are going to come after us because we're ranked in the top 25, but we know we have to meet that challenge every night.”
Kutztown returns to action Wednesday when it travels to the University of District of Columbia for a 7 p.m. start.
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