KUTZTOWN, PA (February 16, 2010) – The theme song for this season's rugged Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division should be Jay-Z's “On To The Next One.” There is little time to savor big victories, close wins and thrilling triumphs because usually lurking on the schedule is another difficult opponent.
Forty-eight hours after edging No. 12 East Stroudsburg, the Kutztown University men's basketball team returns to action against West Chester at Hollinger Fieldhouse Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Rest assured, Hollinger will be rocking. Fans that are not able to make the trip can listen to all of the action on the Golden Bear Radio Network. Kutztown has won six consecutive decisions against West Chester.
The 21st-ranked Golden Bears (20-3, 7-3) are in a three-way tie for first place with East Stroudsburg (20-3, 7-3) and Cheyney (14-9, 7-3) with four games remaining. Cheyney still has games remaining against ESU and Kutztown.
The game against West Chester will end the Golden Bears' grueling four games in seven day stretch. This is just the second stop on Kutztown's four-game road trip through the conference.
Although West Chester (14-9, 3-7) has dropped five of its last six contests, it is still a dangerous opponent especially on its home floor. WCU handed Mansfield its first PSAC East defeat, 89-75, at Hollinger three days after the Mountaineers did the same thing to Kutztown.
The Golden Rams led Cheyney 58-55 with five minutes remaining before running out of gas in a 70-62 road defeat. Kehinde Roberts led West Chester with 14 points. Ralph Hegamin scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Elie Daniel posted 13 points off the bench for the Golden Rams against Cheyney.
West Chester currently has three 1,000-point scorers on its roster in Hegamin, Roberts and Kenny St. George. Yet, despite that firepower, the Golden Rams have not been able to rediscover the mojo that helped them start the season with nine consecutive victories. Hegamin leads the Golden Rams in scoring (17.7) and rebounding (9.5). Roberts is averaging 12.4 points per game and St. George is adding 12.1 points per contest.
Since a humbling home loss to Cheyney two weeks ago, Kutztown has responded like champions, winning three consecutive games including an emotional 65-63 decision at East Stroudsburg Monday night. In all three games, Kutztown has held its opponents below 70 points. The difference has been a switch from man-to-man defense to an active zone.
“My assistant coaches had been suggesting to me that I go zone a while back,” Kutztown coach Bernie Driscoll said. “I finally acquiesced to them. I should've switched to the zone a little sooner. The kids are playing with more energy on defense and that has helped us on the other end of the floor. I think we really defended well against East Stroudsburg.”
Kutztown senior guard and Division II national player of the year candidate Stephen Dennis will make his final appearance as a college basketball player in his hometown. However, with a third-consecutive PSAC East title in sight, this visit will be all business for Dennis, who just moved into fourth place on the all-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) scoring chart with 2,220 career points. Dennis, the reigning PSAC East Player of the Week, leads the nation in scoring (27.4).
The win over East Stroudsburg secured KU's first consecutive 20-win season in school history. It was third time in men's basketball history that Kutztown has won 20 games in a single season. The other being 1988.
Junior center Ryan Washington is 15th nationally in blocked shots (2.5) and 18th in rebounding (10.1). He is also third in the PSAC in scoring (19.4), field goal percentage (60.6) and first in defensive rebounding (7.9). Junior forward Tamir Johnson leads the conference in field goal percentage (65.0) and seventh in rebounding (8.5). Junior guard Julius Gray is seventh in 3-point field goals made (2.2).
As a team, Kutztown is ninth nationally in field goal percentage (50.6). In the conference, the Golden Bears are first in scoring offense (82.0), third field goal defensive percentage (39.9), rebounding (5.2), fourth in scoring margin (10.0) and fourth in blocked shots (4.8).
Driscoll received key efforts from his freshmen. Jon DeShields scored 11 of his career-high 12 points in the first half. He drained deep 3-pointers, attacked the basket with fury and defended well. DeShields has started to step up in the last two games. Against Millersville last Saturday, he was 8-for-8 from the foul line. Alex Reed grabbed some key rebounds and played strong minutes against ESU while Washington and Johnson battled foul difficulties.
Then, Lance Chisholm, with ice water in his veins, calmly made one out of two foul shots with 7.3 seconds remaining against the Warriors.
“I know that this experience will help them and ultimately help us as we move through our season,” Driscoll said. “Jon had a great first half, which helped take some scoring pressure off of Stephen.”
In the first meeting against WCU, Kutztown roared to a 28-10 lead. The Golden Rams rallied to close to within, 35-34, at intermission. Dennis and Washington were too much for West Chester as they combined to score 48 points. Hegamin and Daniel scored 17 points each for the Golden Rams in the first game against Kutztown.
--KU--
