KUTZTOWN, PA. (January 27, 2010) – With the nation's highest scoring combination leading the way, the seventh-ranked Kutztown University men's basketball team earned an 80-69 victory over West Chester University at Keystone Arena Wednesday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game. (BOXSCORE)
Senior guard and Division II national player of year candidate Stephen Dennis (West Chester, PA/Henderson) scored a game-high 25 points and handed out nine assists to lift Kutztown to its 25th consecutive home victory. Junior center Ryan Washington (Philadelphia, PA/Wissahickon) scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half as Kutztown (16-1 overall, 4-1 PSAC East) moved into a first place tie with East Stroudsburg, who edged Mansfield in overtime.
Washington made all eight of his baskets in the second half. It was the eighth time this season that Dennis and Washington scored at least 20 points in the same game. They are the only set of teammates in Division II averaging 20 or more points per game.
Dennis upped his career point total to 2,054 points, which ties him with West Chester's Kevin Givens, who played from 1980-84, for seventh on the all-time PSAC scoring list. Dennis also tied Dave Ben's school career record with 518 free throws made.
However, for the second consecutive game, the efforts of junior Tamir Johnson (Philadelphia, PA/Imhotep Charter) proved crucial to the Golden Bears' victory. Johnson notched his second consecutive double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. He was 6-for-7 from the field. Three of his baskets were rim-rattling flushes that rocked the house. In KU's last two games (both victories), Johnson has grabbed 32 rebounds. Johnson has posted double-doubles in three of Kutztown's last four games.
Junior guard Julius Gray (Lincoln University, PA/Oxford Area High School) recorded four steals to go along with seven points for Kutztown. Overall, eight players scored for Kutztown, which shot 50 percent or better for the 14th time this season. Kutztown leads Division II in field goal shooting percentage.
Ralph Hegamin, the PSAC's fourth leading scorer, and Elie Daniel paced West Chester (12-5, 2-3) with 17 points each. Hegamin also scored his 1,000th career point with four minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the first half. Kenneth St. George added 14 points for the Golden Rams.
This game matched two of the Atlantic Region's ranked squads. Kutztown entered the game fourth in the Atlantic region and West Chester seventh.
It was Kutztown that fired the first salvo as it roared to an early 28-10 advantage 11 minutes into the game. However, the Golden Rams withstood that onslaught and sliced KU's lead to 35-34 at intermission. Hegamin began the second half with a layup that gave West Chester its only lead of the game, 36-35.
That's when Washington took control. He put on a personal scoring spree that vaulted the Golden Bears back in front. His 3-pointer from the top of the key 93 seconds into the second half gave Kutztown the lead for good, 38-36. Washington scored nine points in the first five minutes of the second half to help the Golden Bears open a 48-39 bulge.
While, West Chester was determined not to let Dennis get his points. The nation's leading scorer remained patient and started dropping dimes to teammates. After Dennis found Washington for a basket that upped KU's lead to 62-49 with 9:06 remaining, Dennis pumped his fists and let out a loud scream that could be heard from Erie.
Kutztown returns to action Saturday afternoon when it visits Bloomsburg in a game beginning at 3 p.m. Fans can hear all of the action live on the Golden Bear Radio Network.
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