KUTZTOWN, Pa. – 2012 has been more than kind to the Kutztown University men's basketball team.  It has won eight in a row in the new calendar year, seven of which coming by double digits.  After back-to-back road contests last week, KU returns home to Keystone Arena with a conference-leading nine game winning streak as it looks to improve its impressive record on its home floor.
 
The Golden Bears (13-5 overall, 10-4 PSAC) play host to visiting Shippensburg University (7-13, 4-10) on Wednesday, Feb. 1 for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup. Tipoff at Keystone Arena is set for 8 p.m.
 
Wednesday's doubleheader will be broadcast live on KUTV and can be seen through a live webcast by CLICKING HERE.  Fans can also follow the game via live stats by CLICKING HERE.
 
KU and Ship have split their meetings the past two seasons. Each team won on the road last season with the Raiders taking the last meeting at Keystone Arena.  Senior forward Will Royal led Shippensburg with a 27-point, 12-rebound performance to lead SU to an 87-84 victory. It was the first time in 15 years that Ship won at Keystone Arena, dating back to an 83-80 overtime victory on November 23, 1996.

Eric Brennan (Chester, PA/West Catholic) (Chester, PA/West Catholic) finished with a team-high 16 points off 6-of-8 shooting in just 22 minutes on the floor in KU's conference-opening 84-75 victory at Heiges Field House last season.
 
The Golden Bears enter the matchup atop the Eastern Division after coming off a decisive contest at Bloomsburg on Saturday.  After letting up a 16-point second half lead, KU managed to hold on a take down the Huskies, 74-65.  KU forced 22 turnovers, and was able to capitalize on Bloomsburg's mistakes by finishing with 23 points off turnovers. 
 
This season has brought a whole new scoring attack to the Golden Bears.  After losing two of its top three scorers due to graduation, Kutztown has assembled a scoring unit that tops the PSAC and is eighth in Division II (84.3).  It's also first in scoring margin (+11.3), and third in percentage from the field (.478) and at the free throw line (.771).       
 
KU's top man has been senior guard Devon McBride (Richmond, VA/Hill School) (Richmond, VA/Hill School).  McBride is coming off a pair of 32-point outings last week, earning him the accolade of this week's PSAC East Athlete of the Week.  He leads the conference and is eighth in Division II at 21.6 points per game.  He has scored over 20 in four straight games.  McBride also leads the team and is third in the conference in 3-pointers made (52) and percentage (.444).
 
McBride leads four Golden Bears who average double figures in scoring.  Senior guard Nate Edwards (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) is fifth in the PSAC at 18.7.  He's second in free throw percentage (.883) and is one of KU's top perimeter defenders.  Edwards is one of four players in the conference to average over two steals per contest.
 
Brennan enters the matchup as the top rebounder in the East.  He nearly averages a double-double with 9.4 rebounds to go along with 13.3 points.  He's coming off a 12-rebound outing against Bloom and leads the team with eight double-doubles this season.
 
Also averaging in double figures is junior guard Micah Fraction (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian).  He is 15th in the conference in scoring (14.7) and is tenth in assists (3.8).
 
Shippensburg enters the contest with its first win in its past seven games, ranking it seventh in the East.  Royal scored a season-high 22 points and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe to lead the Raiders to an 82-75 comeback victory against Cheyney on Saturday.  Royal is averaging 12.7 points per game this season and is seventh is the PSAC in rebounding (7.6).
 
Like KU, Shippensburg has four players averaging double figures.  Along with Royal, senior guard Jordan Stasyszyn drops 12.5 per clip, graduate guard Dane Lauber chips in 11.4, with senior Craig Van Scyoc averaging 10.3.  Scyoc also ranks in the top 20 in the conference in rebounding (6.4).  Freshman guard Reggie Charles is fourth, averaging five assists per game.
 
Wednesday night's matchup will close the first half of divisional play.  KU will move into the final stage of its schedule on Saturday, Feb. 4 as it hosts East Stroudsburg University.  KU took down the Warriors earlier this season on the road, 75-61.  Tipoff at Keystone Arena is set for 3 p.m.