Box Score



CHEYNEY, Pa. – Golden Bear fans have yet another great feat to cheer about.  The Kutztown University men's basketball team will be represented in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoffs for the tenth consecutive season.  It is the longest active streak in the conference.
 
Fittingly so, the Golden Bears (15-8 overall, 12-7 PSAC) were led by senior guard Nate Edwards (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) who scored a game-high 25 points in a 85-59 victory over Cheyney University (3-20, 2-18) in an Eastern Division matchup Wednesday evening at Cope Hall.
 
Under the tenure of head coach Bernie Driscoll, Kutztown has become one of the top programs in the conference.  It was picked first in the PSAC preseason poll and is now in a first place tie with Bloomsburg with Wednesday night's win.
 
“It makes me very proud of our team,” Driscoll commented about the ten-year playoff run.  “It says a lot about and is a credit to our coaching staff and the kids that stayed in the program.”
 
KU was impressive on both ends of the floor and saw contributions up and down its roster.  Three players scored in double figures as the team shot 56.1 percent from the field.  Defensively, KU held Cheyney to 20 less points than when the two teams met at Keystone Arena earlier this season.  The 31.3 percent field goal shooting percentage plagued the Wolves, despite attempting seven more shots than the Golden Bears.
 
The win couldn't have come at a bigger time as the Golden Bears were eager to break their three-game losing streak.
 
“I thought we needed to pass the basketball, get touches, get the ball inside to Eric, and establish the inside-out part of our game to get the win tonight,” Driscoll said.  “I'm real happy with our performance tonight and it certainly helps us moving forward.”
 
Edwards' 25 move him into 11th on the all-time scoring list at KU.  He has 1,241 in his career and is 13 away from tying Eddie McTague for tenth.  He made all four of his 3-pointers Wednesday night and finished 9-for-14 from the field.
 
Junior guard Micah Fraction (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) dropped 19 in his return to the starting lineup.  He was 9-for-15 shooting from the field and dished out a team-high three assists.
 
Senior forward Eric Brennan (Chester, PA/West Catholic) (Chester, PA/West Catholic) rounded out the trio with his tenth double-double of the season.  He finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.  The big-man looked comfortable all night as he was able to score in a multitude of ways.  He picked up three blocks and used his aggressiveness to go 8-for-10 at the charity stripe.
 
Edwards got off to a hot start to help KU get out to an early double-digit lead.  With 11:07 to play in the opening half, Edwards laid it in to give KU the double-digit advantage at 15-5.  A 3-pointer by Edwards in the final minutes of the opening half gave KU a 19-point lead, 38-19, its largest lead of the half. 
 
Fraction scored the final five points of the half for KU.  After Cheyney hit a pair free throws with four seconds until halftime, the 5-9 guard went the length of the floor to lay it in with 0.9 seconds to play.  KU took a 43-24 lead into the break.
 
It was all but over for the Wolves through the opening stint of the second half.  KU stormed out of the locker room on a 12-2 run to give Kutztown the 55-26 lead.  KU led by as many as 34 in the second half as a Jayson Johnson (Columbus, NJ/Life Center Academy) (Columbus, NJ/Life Center Academy) free throw made it 68-34 with 9:47 remaining.
 
The bench had one of its finer showings of the season on Wednesday.  It racked up 16 points, was able to control and maintain the lead, and had five players score.  Sophomore Daniel Mack (Philadelphia, PA/Paul Robeson) (Philadelphia, PA/ Paul Robeson) may have had one of the happiest moments of his young KU career.  He threw down a dunk off a Demerik Weglinski (Reading, PA/Reading) (Reading, PA/Reading) pass that brought KU fans to their feet at Cope Hall, chanting out, 'D-Mack'.  Mike John (East Stroudsburg, PA/East Stroudsburg North) (East Stroudsburg, PA/East Stroudsburg North) also scored four, Johnson and Kenny Battle (Philadelphia, PA/Imhotep Charter) (Philadelphia, PA/Imhotep Charter) each scored three, as Abdul King (Philadelphia, PA/Constitution) (Philadelphia, PA/Constitution) also chipped in a pair of free throws.
 
“I thought our bench did a great job,” Driscoll said.  “They passed and rebounded the ball really well, and kept the tempo of the game where we wanted it.”
 
Cheyney's top scorer was senior guard Brandon Baylor.  He dropped 21 and was 5-of-13 from beyond the arc.  Also scoring in double figures was Jerrod Johnson with 17.
 
Kutztown returns home for the first time in two weeks on Saturday, Feb. 18 for a first place showdown with Bloomsburg.  Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at Keystone Arena.  Both teams have clinched a spot in the playoffs, but KU holds the edge over the Huskies as it won the first matchup on Jan. 28, 74-65.