Box Score



KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown University's Nate Edwards (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) and No. 14 Indiana (Pa.)'s Ashton Smith were locked in a scoring duel, but it was the Crimson Hawks who captured a 78-72 win over the Golden Bears in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Crossover contest at Keystone Arena. 

Edwards poured in 25 points for KU, hitting 7-of-19 field goals and 9-of-10 from the line.  He also had five rebounds and limited IUP's Julian Sanders, who entered the night averaging 20.2 points/game, to just five points on the evening.  It was the second game in a row with exactly 25 points for Edwards, who scored that many in Friday night's win over visiting California (Pa.).

“Nate's one of the best guards in the PSAC,” noted Kutztown Head Coach Bernie Driscoll after the game.  “He's got a desire to win and he's got a great motor.  He's just a fun kid to coach.  There's no questioning his effort on offense or defense”

Smith, however, led all players with 33 points on the night, going 14-of-23 from the field.  He hit a pair of threes, had six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“Sometimes you just have to tip your hat,” Driscoll said of Smith. “He hit some shots when we thought we had a hand in his face.  A lot of the shots he hit were contested.”

A layup by Marcel Souberbielle with 7:57 left in the first half put the Crimson Hawks up 24-17, but less than a minute later Devon McBride (Richmond, VA/Hill School) (Richmond, VA/Hill School) found Edwards on the wing.  Edwards hit the three, was fouled by Souberbielle and made the free throw to convert the four-point play to make it a three point game with seven minutes to go in the half.

IUP would close the half with a 13-6 run and took a 37-27 lead into the intermission.

A three by Sanders just 33 seconds into the second half gave the Crimson Hawks their biggest lead of the afternoon, but Kutztown fought back.  The Golden Bears went on a 22-8 run over the next seven minutes to take a one-point lead on a pair of free throws by Edwards with 12:40 to play that made it 49-48.

Back-to-back layups by Smith put the Crimson Hawks back on top briefly, 52-49, with 11:33 left, but Micah Fraction (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) (Macungie, PA/ Montrose Christian) got into the lane for two and a Demerik Weglinski (Reading, PA/Reading) (Reading, PA/Reading) field goal put KU ahead 53-52 with 10:12 to play.

On the next possession, however, Smith hit a jumper that ignited a 13-2 run by the Crimson Hawks that resulted in a 65-55 IUP advantage with 4:07 remaining in the contest.

The deficit grew to as many as 12 points, but the Golden Bears fought back and trailed by just three after Tyler Brooks (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) took a feed from Mike John (East Stroudsburg, PA/East Stroudsburg North) (East Stroudsburg, PA/East Stroudsburg) and hit a three to make it 75-72 with 31 seconds to play. 

KU could not score on its next offensive set and a pair of free throws by Danny Ayebo iced the game with 14 seconds left. 

“We fought hard, but we need to make better decisions,” Edwards said of his team's comeback bid.

Edwards, closing in on 1,000 in his career, led a trio of Golden Bears in double figures in the game.  Eric Brennan (Chester, PA/West Catholic) (Chester, PA/West Catholic) scored 13 points, while Brooks was 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 on threes for 11 points.  Brooks also led Kutztown with six rebounds. 

Souberbielle and Devante Chance had 10 points apiece for IUP, who shot 54 percent as a team in the contest. 

The Golden Bears' starting five accounted for 65 of the team's 72 points, but Edwards did not see that as a factor.

“We may not have a deep bench in terms of scoring a lot of points right now, but we have guys who come in and spark us in other ways,” he noted. “Most of our bench is pretty young and we're going to need them.  Hopefully games like the ones this weekend give them good experience.”

Kutztown is idle for final exams before returning to action on December 30 with a non-conference contest against the University of Sciences at Keystone Arena.