MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – ­The first five minutes didn't go as smoothly as the Kutztown University men's basketball team had hoped, but it overcame early adversity with a strong effort Tuesday night to charge past a double-digit deficit to a halftime lead that it never relinquished in a 69-60 road victory at Millersville University.
 
The Golden Bears (4-1, 3-1 PSAC East) entered the contest atop the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in numerous offensive and defensive categories. Despite being held to its lowest scoring output of the season by the Marauders (2-5, 2-2), KU was determined to dig down defensively to come out of Millersville's Pucillo Gymnasium with a victory.
 
Kutztown held advantages in shooting from the field, three-point range and at the free throw line. Millersville made the most of costly mistakes by the Golden Bears with 24 points off turnovers, but KU's +8 rebounding advantage prevented Millersville from putting together lengthy runs in the second half.
 
The opening five minutes could have gone better for KU, as Millersville jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first 5:37, tied for Kutztown's largest deficit of the season thus far. Juniors Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) and Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) accounted for eight points of an ensuing 9-0 run for Kutztown to nearly erase the early deficit.
 
The bench stepped up for the team's next nine points, including five from freshman Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg), to tie the game at 23-all with 6:13 left in the half. KU converted the final lead change with 5:45 left in the half, as it led 35-31 at the break and by as many as 12 in the second half.
 
Connolly and Beidelman each scored 12 points to lead 10 Golden Bears that played and scored Tuesday night. Beidelman made his first three shots of the night to finish 5-of-7 from the field. Connolly pocketed a pair of three-pointers along with four rebounds.
 
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) led the team with seven rebounds and rounded out the trio of double-digit scorers with 11 points. A post player, Johnson opened the night with KU's first bucket of the game, his first career three-pointer.
 
Sophomore guard Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) made 6-of-8 free throws to finish with eight points to go along with four assists in 28 minutes off the bench.
 
Shawn Williams dropped 20 points with four three-pointers to lead the Marauders. Dererik Weglinski scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
 
The Golden Bears return home for a three-game home stand, beginning with back-to-back PSAC Crossover games at Keystone Arena this weekend. KU hosts Pitt-Johnstown on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Indiana University (PA) on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 4 p.m.