KUTZTOWN, Pa. – It's been a wild 48 hours for the Kutztown University men's basketball team. A game-winning shot over Bloomsburg on Saturday catapulted a national craze surrounding the program. Having won their last two, the Golden Bears need to stay focused on the task at hand to put itself in the best position possible for the postseason.
Kutztown's (16-8 overall, 13-7 PSAC) next test comes on Wednesday, Feb. 22 as Mansfield University (9-15, 6-14) makes its yearly trip to Keystone Arena. Tipoff in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup is set for 8 p.m.
Eric Brennan (Chester, PA/West Catholic) (Chester, PA/West Catholic) and
Nate Edwards (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) will be honored before the game for Senior Night. Each player has played their part this season and will certainly leave their mark in the history of the program.
Live stats on Wednesday evening can be accessed by
CLICKING HERE.
Micah Fraction (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian)'s (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) runner as time expired lifted KU to a 56-55 victory over the Huskies on Saturday, moving KU into the top spot in the East with two games to play. Kutztown controls its own destiny as four teams are still in contention for the No. 1 seed (Bloomsburg (16-8, 13-7), West Chester (15-9, 12-8), & East Stroudsburg (16-10, 12-8)).
The buzz around campus was significantly heightened after the dramatic finish. The video of the final shot was aired on ESPN and named the 'Best of the Best' play of the weekend. The Golden Bears hope that the national recognition builds on their confidence level and allows them to bring a continued success against the Mounties on Wednesday.
The teams' first matchup on Jan. 25 was within six points for the majority of the game. But with just under ten minutes to play, KU went on a 15-3 run to give it a 73-59 lead with 3:09 to play. Four Golden Bears finished in double figures led by
Devon McBride (Richmond, VA/Hill School)'s (Richmond, VA/Hill School) career-high 32.
Brennan notched one of his ten double-doubles this season against the Mounties. Brennan, this week's PSAC East Athlete of the Week, scored 13 and grabbed ten rebounds. He is coming off a 23-point outing against Bloom, his most since coming to KU in 2010. This is Brennan's second weekly honor from the PSAC this season. He is KU's top rebounder and in third in the conference at 9.5 per game. Brennan leads the PSAC in defensive rebounding (6.7).
KU has won nine of the past 11 against the Mounties. The last time that Mansfield was victorious over Kutztown was in its final matchup last season which secured it the PSAC East title.
Edwards is fourth in the PSAC in scoring this season (18.6). He's coming off an 11-point effort against Bloomsburg and is two points away from moving into tenth in KU history on the all-time scoring list. He currently has 1,252 points in his career.
KU and Mansfield bring two of the top six scoring offenses in the PSAC to Keystone Arena. KU tops the PSAC at 82.6 per game, as Mansfield is sixth averaging 75.4. A difference maker that KU always hopes to take advantage of is its success at the free throw line. KU has led the PSAC for most of the season at the charity stripe, shooting 76.4 percent. Individually, Edwards is fourth in the league at the line (.861).
Mansfield's top scorer this season is its freshman Joe Bell. Bell has won the PSAC East Freshman of the Week award three weeks in a row and is averaging 16.3 points per game, good for ninth in the PSAC. He's seventh in the league in rebounding (7.1) and holds the best field goal percentage in the conference (.569).
Bell dropped a season-high 34 points and recorded his third double-double of the season in MU's 94-66 win over Millersville on Saturday. Junior Chuck Harper dropped 11 points in the win and is averaging 13 points per game. Senior Josh Dupuy is fifth in the PSAC in assists per game (5.0).
Following its regular season home finale on Wednesday, Kutztown travels to Shippensburg for its final game before the postseason. Tipoff on Saturday, Feb. 25 is set for 3 p.m.
