KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team currently finds itself in a temporary slide, but will look to come together and earn a playoff-clinching victory against Cheyney University on Wednesday, Feb. 15.  Tipoff at Cope Hall is set for 8 p.m.
 
With a win, the Golden Bears (14-8 overall, 11-7 PSAC) will make its tenth consecutive trip to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoffs.  KU has dropped three in a row but hope that they can take advantage of Cheyney's (3-19, 2-17) previous struggles and get back into the win column.
 
Wednesday marks the third and final game in KU's current road trip.  However, preparing for and playing on Cheyney's home floor is like no other school in the conference.  KU hasn't been able to capture a victory at Cope Hall since a 75-73 win in the 2008-09 season in which it went 13-1 in conference play. 
 
There is always a high entertainment level when attending a game at Cope Hall.  Dancers, a live disc-jockey, an in-house band, and dance teams are all hoping to give the Wolves a momentum boost and try and frustrate the Golden Bears.  With all the hype surrounding this game, Kutztown simply needs to stick to its game plan that has it within a game of first place in the Eastern Division.
 
KU is the top scoring team in the PSAC at 83.7 points per game, but has finished under that total in regulation in its last three games.  A major advantage KU will have playing in its favor is that Cheyney averages just 68.9, 14th in the conference.
 
In the team's first matchup on Jan. 18, Kutztown outscored Cheyney by 13 in the second half to roll to a 96-79 victory.  KU placed four players in double figures in scoring and shot 55.2 percent shooting from the floor and 81.8 percent from 3-point range.
 
Wednesday's matchup will feature the top three scorers in the conference.  KU senior guards Devon McBride (Richmond, VA/Hill School) (Richmond, VA/Hill School) and Nate Edwards (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) are averaging career-highs this season.  McBride leads the PSAC at 20.8 per game, and Edwards is third at 18.6 per clip.
 
Along with his talented offensive production, Edwards has become well known in the conference for his tenacious defensive play.  He is tied for second in the conference in steals (2.1) and has 46 on the season.  His aggressiveness also gets him to the free throw line an average of 6.77 times per game.  He's converting on 87.2 percent of his attempts, good for second in the PSAC.     
 
As a team, KU leads the league in free throw percentage (.769), while Cheyney ranks third (.754).   
 
Senior forward Eric Brennan (Chester, PA/West Catholic) (Chester, PA/West Catholic) has fought his way to the top defensive rebounder in the conference (6.6).  Overall, he is third in the PSAC in rebounds (9.4) while averaging 13.1 points per game.
 
Junior guard Micah Fraction (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) is coming off a team-high 16 points in KU's setback to Millersville on Saturday, all of which coming in the second half.  He is averaging 15.7 per clip and is averaging a team-best 3.5 assists per game.
 
Cheyney's Jason Sabb and Brandon Baylor combine for one of the top scoring duo's in the conference.  Sabb is second in the PSAC at 20.3 with Baylor ranking eighth at 16.4.  Sabb dropped 32 against KU in the first matchup but did not play against Mansfield on Saturday.
 
Kutztown will return home on Saturday, Feb. 18 to take on the top team in the East in Bloomsburg University.  Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.