KUTZTOWN, PA. (February 11, 2010) – The Kutztown University men's basketball team broke a two-game Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division losing streak by defeating Mansfield University, 81-69, Thursday night at Keystone Arena.
Leading the way for the 21st-ranked Golden Bears was senior guard and Division II national player of the year candidate Stephen Dennis. The nation's leading scorer delivered a game-high 37 points to help Kutztown (18-3 overall, 5-3 PSAC East) leap-frog past Mansfield (14-8, 5-4) and into third place in the rugged PSAC East. Kutztown trails Cheyney (6-2 PSAC East) and 12th-ranked East Stroudsburg (6-2) by one game with six contests remaining.
In two games this season against Mansfield, Dennis burned the Mountaineers for 73 points. Dennis, who was featured in the Feb. 8 issue of Sports Illustrated, raised his career point total to 2,162 with his fifth outing of 30 or more points this season.
Providing plenty of assistance to Dennis was junior center Ryan Washington, who finished with his 12th double-double of the season with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Junior forward Tamir Johnson contributed his fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Those efforts were critical as Kutztown begins a tough stretch of four games in seven days.
Kutztown trailed once in avenging an earlier defeat to Mansfield three weeks ago. The Golden Bears defense was the difference as they limited Mansfield to 25 fewer points than it scored in the first meeting at Decker Gym. Also proving significant was Kutztown's defense yielding eight points to Mansfield's leading scorer Yusef Carr, who entered the game averaging 16.8 points per game.
Ryan Callahan finished with a team-high 18 points for Mansfield, but many of his baskets occurred after KU constructed a 14-point advantage with six minutes, 40 seconds remaining. In the first meeting, Callahan and Carr tortured Kutztown for 51 points. The Golden Bears limited the duo to 26 harmless points. Also, they combined to go 29-for-33 from the foul line in the first game. Callahan and Carr were 6-for-11 from the foul line this time around.
Mansfield's only other double digit scorer was Cory Henneghan, who supplied 16 points and made four 3-pointers.
There was one moment of peril for Kutztown midway through the second half when Mansfield closed to within, 51-49, following a pair of Tony Fannick foul shots with 9:40 remaining. Kutztown responded with a game-altering 16-4 burst that gave it control of the contest for good.
During the run, Dennis had six points and two assists. His personal scoring spree of six straight points stretched KU's lead from 59-53 to 65-53. Dennis started and ended the spurt with assists. Johnson converted his first pass into an old-fashioned 3-point play. That expanded KU's lead to 54-49. His final pass during the run was to Washington, who dropped in a layup that gave Kutztown a 67-53 bulge with 6:40 remaining.
That was the Golden Bears' second 14-point advantage of the contest. Determined to get even for losing to Mansfield three weeks ago, Kutztown scored 11 straight points to open a 21-7 advantage 12 minutes into the game. The Mountaineers opened the game by making four of their first 21 shots. Eventually, once Mansfield found its shooting touch, it began shrinking Kutztown's advantage.
However, despite Mansfield's long-range accuracy, Kutztown always had an answer.
The Golden Bears return to action Saturday afternoon when they host Millersville University beginning at 3 p.m. Mansfield continues its road trip when it visits Cheyney University, also at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
--KU--
