Box Score KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University's three seniors,
Eric Brennan (Chester, PA/West Catholic) (Chester, Pa./West Catholic),
Nate Edwards (Philadelphia, PA/North Catholic) (Philadelphia, Pa./North Catholic) and
Devon McBride (Richmond, VA/Hill School) (Richmond, Va./Hill School), combined for 43 points as the Golden Bears dispatched Mansfield on Senior Night, 77-66.
Edwards poured in a game-high 20 to go along with six rebounds, three assists and four steals. The guard shot 8-of-17 from the floor and went 3-of-6 form beyond the arc.
Brennan notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and added five assists and three steals.
McBride came off the bench to score 11 points in just 19 minutes of work.
KU trailed early in the game, 8-4, but went on a 20-6 run and a fastbreak lay up for
Micah Fraction (Macungie, PA/Montrose Christian) (Macungie, Pa./Montrose Christian) made it 24-14 in favor of KU with 8:20 left in the half.
The Mounties battled back, however, and took a 31-30 lead after Joe Bell laid one in on a fastbreak with 3:52 to go before the intermission.
A bucket by
Jayson Johnson (Columbus, NJ/Life Center Academy) (Columbus, N.J./Life Center Academy) a minute later gave the Golden Bears the lead as they led 37-34 at the half.
Kutztown used a 13-5 spurt early in the second half to push the lead to double digits and Mansfield never pulled within nine points the rest of the way.
“You've got to play hard for 40 minutes,” Edwards said. “If you play hard, you get rewarded. Down the stretch we were able to make some plays to solidify the lead.”
In addition to big nights from its three seniors, Fraction added 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting. He went 3-of-6 from three-point range and dished out six assists.
Bell led the Mounties with 20 points, while Kyle Bradley added 13 and Chuck Harper had a dozen.
Kutztown shot 46 percent from the floor and committed just 13 turnovers on the night.
Mansfield shot the ball well, hitting 48 percent, but went 2-of-10 from behind the arc and was just 4-of-10 from the foul line.
Kutztown also forced the Mounties into 21 turnovers and generated 19 points from Mansfield's miscues.
The win also kept the Golden Bears' destiny in their own hands, a fact that the team is well aware of.
“A win tonight was very important,” Edwards said after the game. “We hold our destiny in our hands. To know you could have home court throughout the playoffs is a big deal. You want to have the home fans there and that's a big plus and a big motivator for us to take care of business.”
Entering the evening, KU was tied with Bloomsburg atop the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's Eastern Division, with East Stroudsburg and West Chester just a game back. Kutztown swept the season series from BU.
Bloomsburg, who lost on Fraction's buzzer beater over the weekend, got a buzzer beater of its own to defeat East Stroudsburg, eliminating the Warriors from the race for the East's top seed. West Chester, meanwhile, defeated Cheyney to keep the Golden Rams hopes of tying either or both the Golden Bears and Huskies for the top spot in the standings after Saturday's regular season finales.
Kutztown will travel to Shippensburg on Feb. 25 for a 3 p.m. tip off. Bloomsburg plays host to Millersville while West Chester hosts Mansfield.
