MANSFIELD, PA (March 2, 2010) – Julius Gray (Lincoln University, PA/Oxford Area High School)'s shooting stroke had been far from swell. However, when he was needed most, the junior guard came out of his shell just in time to silence a rowdy and raucous crowd at Mansfield University's Decker Gym Tuesday night.
Gray tied his career-high with 24 points to help the fourth-seeded Kutztown University men's basketball team defeat top-seeded Mansfield University, 65-61, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference quarterfinal Tuesday night before an overflow crowd. (BOXSCORE)
With the victory, the Golden Bears (22-6 overall) advance to Friday night's semifinals where they will meet Clarion University in the first semifinal at East Stroudsburg University's Koehler Fieldhouse beginning at 5:30 p.m. Indiana (Pa) will battle host East Stroudsburg in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. The two winners will advance to the PSAC championship game Saturday night. Kutztown defeated Clarion, 98-72 on Jan. 3.
Kutztown is the only men's team in the semifinals for the second consecutive season. Additionally, Kutztown is only PSAC school in which both the men's and women's teams are in the semifinals. Gray's shooting along with timely baskets and contributions from everybody in a maroon-and-gold road uniform is the reason Kutztown defeated Mansfield in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
“I like playing here in this gym because the crowd is always into the game,” Gray said. “You know, the worse you play, the more they're going to talk bad about and mess with you.”
Gray along with senior guard and Division II player of the year candidate Stephen Dennis (West Chester, PA/Henderson) left the crowd speechless, hoarse and disappointed. Dennis also finished with 24 points and five assists.
Dennis, who reached double digits for the 43rd consecutive contest, raised his career point total to 2,345, which is third all-time on the PSAC scoring chart. It was also the 104th time in Dennis' sterling career that he has reached double digits in a game. Finally, it was the 13th time this season, Dennis handed out at least five assists in a game.
Ryan Washington (Philadelphia, PA/Wissahickon) contributed eight points and six rebounds. Tamir Johnson (Philadelphia, PA/Imhotep Charter) also grabbed six rebounds, including a pair of important boards late in the game to quell a Mansfield rally.
“The kids played real well,” Kutztown head coach Bernie Driscoll said. “I thought we played consistently on both ends of the floor tonight. Julius did a nice job to hit his open shots and he played within himself. This was a complete victory.”
Yuseff Carr led Mansfield (18-9) with 20 points. Ryan Callahan contributed 18 points and Justin Simmons added 12 points for the Mountaineers. Kutztown's defense did a great job of forcing some difficult shots and limiting Mansfield to 31.7 percent shooting.
The Golden Bears were poised down the stretch in the face of top-tapping and hand-clapping crowd dressed mostly in black. Each time Mansfield got close, Gray drilled a huge shot.
“When I was struggling with my shot, I got down a little but everybody told me to keep shooting and that helped a lot,” Gray said. “It feels good to tie my career high, but I really don't care about the points. I just want to win. It's nice to get the win and keep our goal of winning the PSAC in front of us. I definitely feel like I am getting my stroke back.”
The Mountaineers had sliced a 49-37 deficit to 52-50 with 4:43 remaining following a Derrison Anthony 3-pointer. Gray answered with a 3-pointer off of a Dennis assist that gave Kutztown a 55-50 cushion with 3:44 remaining.
Carr made a pair of foul shots with 1:35 remaining that brought Mansfield to within, 55-53. Gray answered again with a jumper that gave Kutztown a 57-53 lead four seconds later. Mansfield did not get any closer as Kutztown finished strong. Then Dennis made a nice move that was worthy of an AND-1 mix tape when he crossed over a Mansfield defender and scored a layup that expanded Kutztown's lead to 59-53 with 50 seconds remaining.
“I was trying to get the defender to get caught in a screen, but he bit on it hard and just took him to the hole,” Dennis said. “We knew it was a big game and the crowd would be trying to get us out of our game plan. We stuck together and didn't let them get to us.”
Kutztown took control of the game from the beginning. Trailing, 6-4 early in the game, the Golden Bears scored 13 consecutive points to open a 17-6 lead eight minutes into the game. Gray sank a 3-pointer to give Kutztown the lead for good, 7-6, with 16 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the opening half. Gray added a layup to give KU a 3-point edge, 9-6.
Gray wasn't finished. He fed Johnson for a basket, stole the ensuing pass and found Dennis, who rocked the house with a dunk. The Golden Bears' advantage peaked at 30-16 with 5:10 remaining in the first half. Mansfield closed the first half by scoring the final 10 points to close to within, 30-26, entering the locker room.
“We had a little bit of foul trouble and then we forgot what we did to get up by 12 points,” Driscoll said. “But the kids got back to doing what got us the lead and did a great job of contesting Mansfield's shots.”
Kutztown opened the second half by scoring the first six points to lead by 10 (46-36), but Mansfield would not go away. The Mountaineers forced Kutztown to win the game.
Now, despite a shaky finish to the regular season, the Golden Bears are back where they always believed they'd be. After falling in the championship game last year, Kutztown is out to finish the job this season. In the win against Clarion, Gray scored 22 points and Washington scored 31 points as Kutztown shot a ridiculous 64.3 percent against the Golden Eagles.
“Even though we were the No. 4 seed, we feel like we're still the best team in the league,” Gray said. “It feels good to get this win, but we still have a lot of work to do in order to accomplish one of our goals this year.”
--KU--
