KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team has made it through the Western portion of its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) schedule.  Currently in second place, KU hosts fourth place West Chester on Wednesday, Jan. 11 in its Eastern Division opener.  Tipoff at Keystone Arena is set for 8 p.m.
 
Fans not able to make the trip to Keystone Arena can still follow the game by accessing LIVE STATS.
 
Kutztown (7-5 overall, 4-4 PSAC) has won three in a row for the first time this season with wins over the Sciences, Edinboro and Lock Haven.  West Chester (6-6, 3-5) enters the matchup on a two-game slide with narrow setbacks to Indiana (Pa.) and California (Pa.).
 
The offensive barrage coming from the Kutztown backcourt has helped lift the Golden Bears to the top scoring team in the East at 83.4 points per game.  The combination of senior guards Devon McBride (Richmond, VA/Hill School) (Richmond, VA/Hill Scholl) and Nate Edwards (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) has become the top scoring duo in the league.  Together they are averaging over 40 ppg led by McBride at 20.3.  He is second in the PSAC in scoring and is coming off a career performance in KU's previous game against Lock Haven.
 
McBride provided the early spark for KU, scoring 25 of his career-high 32 points in the first half.  He also brought down a career-best 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season to help solidify him as this week's PSAC East Athlete of the Week.  McBride has gone over the 20-point mark in seven of KU's 12 games this season, and is one of the top 3-point shooters in the conference.  The senior is second in 3-point field goals made (2.9) and ninth in percentage (.438).  McBride is also tenth in free-throw percentage (.836).
 
As a unit, Kutztown is second in the East in scoring margin (+8.2), largely due to its balance of perimeter shooting and converting at the free-throw line.  KU leads the East in 3-pointers made (7.0) and free-throw percentage (.780) as Edwards is shooting a team-high 86.4 percent at the charity stripe, good for fifth in the conference.  Earlier this season, Edwards made a career-high 15 free-throws and was one away from tying the KU school-record.  His 19.3 points per clip put him third in the conference as KU's newest 1,000-point scorer has finished with a career-high 29 points in two of his last three games.
 
Also reaching career-high marks last week was junior point guard Micah Fraction (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian).  In KU's win over Edinboro, Fraction dropped 28 points on a game-high 11 field goals.  He is averaging 15 ppg in his first season in maroon-and-gold and has continued to improve on protecting and distributing the basketball.  Fraction is eighth in the conference in assists per game (4.1) and leads the team with 49 on the season.

Kutztown has outrebounded its opponent in its last two games and has seen outstanding effort on the glass by senior forward Eric Brennan (Chester, PA/West Catholic) (Chester, PA/West Catholic).  He is sixth in the conference at eight rebounds per game.  Brennan averages 13.6 ppg for the Golden Bears and has used his versatility to hold one of the best assist/turnover ratio's in the PSAC (2.1).         
 
West Chester comes into Keystone Arena hoping to use its defense to limit the KU scoring attack. It lets up 71.6 ppg and is sixth in the conference in opponent field goal percentage (.439).  Senior forward Lance McDowell leads the Golden Rams at 14.1 ppg. He also leads the team and is eighth in the conference with 7.2 rebounds per game. 
 
Along with McDowell, the Golden Rams have three players averaging in double figures.  Junior guard Jon Breeden is scoring 13.7 per clip followed by freshman guard Corey Blake at 11.3.  In WCU's last game against Cal, Blake had a team-high 13 points with as many rebounds to earn him PSAC East Freshman of the Week.
 
After its opening Eastern Division battle with West Chester, Kutztown travels to East Stroudsburg on Saturday, Jan. 14 for a battle of the top two teams in the PSAC preseason poll. Tip is set for 3 p.m.