KUTZTOWN, PA. (January 2, 2010) – On a day filled with milestones and memorable moments, the Kutztown University men's basketball team used a solid second-half effort to pull away and defeat Gannon University, 75-59, at Keystone Arena Saturday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover contest.
Kutztown (8-0) stormed to its 21st consecutive home victory behind another dominating performance from the nation's highest scoring duo, senior guard Stephen Dennis and junior center Ryan Washington. The pair burned the Golden Knights (4-5) for 58 points to help Kutztown head coach Bernie Driscoll earn his 150th career coaching victory.
“It's a nice accomplishment,” Driscoll said of the milestone. “But that's a credit to everybody who has participated in this program and laid the foundation for us. I've been fortunate to have some great young men come through this program.”
Washington scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. For Washington, it was his fourth consecutive double-double and fifth in Kutztown's last six games. It was also the second straight game in which Washington matched or bettered his career high point total. He tied his career-best with a 28-point effort against Lincoln (Pa.) in KU's last outing.
Meanwhile, Dennis scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half as Kutztown earned a measure of revenge against Gannon, which beat the Golden Bears three times last season. Dennis, the nation's second leading scorer and Division II national player of the year candidate, also upped his career point total to 1,794 points as Kutztown defeated Gannon for the first time in school history. Kutztown is now 1-9 all-time against the Golden Knights.
It was the fifth time this season, Dennis and Washington scored 20 or more points in the same game. Together, Dennis and Washington are averaging a combined 48.2 points per game.
Gannon placed three players in double figures highlighted by George Johnson's 21 points. Travis Brannen added 15 points and James Bryant finished with 13 points. Mark Demski led the Golden Knights with eight rebounds.
Still stinging from the three defeats to the Golden Knights last season, it took Kutztown some time to find its groove. Once the Golden Bears did, Gannon was powerless to stop the Golden Bear onslaught. This was a game the Golden Bears had circled on their calendars since losing to Gannon in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region final 292 days ago.
For the first time in its last three home games, Kutztown did not trail in the second half. Kutztown broke a 33-33 halftime tie and never looked back. Dennis opened the second half with an old-fashioned 3-point play that gave KU the lead for good, 36-33. The Golden Bears had four old-fashioned 3-point plays in the opening four minutes.
Kutztown got its running game cranked up early in the second half. Holding a 48-42 lead with 14 minutes, 28 seconds remaining, Dennis orchestrated a breathtaking stretch of basketball that helped the Golden Bears open a double-digit lead. Dennis sank a 3-pointer from the left corner and handed out assists on consecutive fast breaks to Jon DeShields and Julius Gray that swelled KU's lead to 55-44 with 13:12 left in the game.
The first half belonged to Johnson, who made several difficult shots from different zip codes to help Gannon race out to a 25-14 lead with 9:43 remaining. Although Gannon's start wobbled Kutztown a bit, the Golden Bears recovered to gain control. Helping stabilize Kutztown was freshman center Alex Reed. He played tough defense, tipped passes, took charges, grabbed three rebounds and finished with two steals.
Once Reed got things under control, Washington took charge offensively. Towering over Gannon defenders like the Washington Monument looming over the Washington, DC skyline, he scored nine straight Kutztown points that helped slice Gannon's double-digit edge to 27-26 with 5:44 remaining.
The Golden Bears return to action Sunday afternoon when they host Clarion University in a PSAC crossover game beginning at 3 p.m.
--KU--
