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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team picked up an overtime victory, 90-84, Friday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover contest against a gritty University of Pitt-Johnstown (UPJ) inside Keystone Arena.
 
Kutztown (5-1, 4-1 PSAC East) switched up the starting lineup against UPJ (6-3, 3-2 PSAC West) as it decided to give redshirt freshman Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) the nod at guard. Lee was a focal point of the Maroon and Gold offense as he scored a career-high 21 points on 75 percent shooting.  Nine of his points came from beyond the arc, which was also a career-high. He was also big on the glass as he hauled in a career-high 10 boards for his first career double-double.
 
In the first half, KU found itself up 32-22 with 4:30 left in the half. Ultimately, a minor 10-5 run by UPJ cut the deficit to 37-32. Things would then become more interesting in the second half. 
 
UPJ continued to scratch and claw its way into striking distance of KU, and it was not until 3:36 left in the game that UPJ found its first lead since 8:11 left in the first half.  The Mountain Cats were able to push their advantage to four points with 23 seconds to play, but KU would make its final stand to push the game to overtime. 
 
Down four, the Maroon and Gold pushed the tempo and decided to go for the quick layup with less than 20 seconds remaining.  After Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) converted, UPJ turned the ball over on the ensuing in-bounds pass. Seven seconds later, Ridgeway was fouled and continued on to sink both of the free throws to tie the game at 78 with nine seconds to play.
 
Ridgeway would go on to finish the game with eight points and a team-high six assists. After a failed mid-range shot from UPJ, the game was sent to overtime.
 
At the beginning of the overtime period, Kutztown immediately got out to an early lead and never allowed UPJ to get out in front. The Maroon and Gold closed out the contest comfortably as UPJ scrambled and fouled KU multiple times.
 
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) was dominant inside with season-highs of 25 points and 14 rebounds, his third double-double on the season. After the impressive showing, Johnson surpassed 900 career points (911) and is only early on in his junior season.
 
Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) was doing an excellent job facilitating the Golden Bear offense as he showed some flashy passes on the fast break. He ended with nine points and dished out four assists.
 
Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) finished with seven rebounds and nine points, all of which came from downtown. Martin Dietrich (Maytown, Pa./Donegal) provided quality minutes off the bench as he contributed seven points and an assist.
 
KU was running and gunning in front of their home crowd as it outscored UPJ 15-7 on the fast break. The Maroon and Gold were also tough in the paint as they held a 44-20 advantage in points in the paint.
 
The Mountain Cats found most of their offense from A.J Leahey and Dale Clancy, as they both went on to score 23 points. Leahey came up with nine rebounds and Clancy dished out six assists. Nate Snodgrass was also big for UPJ as he finished with 16 points.
 
Kutztown will have its second game in as many days as it hosts Indiana University of Pennsylvania in a PSAC Crossover contest on Saturday, Dec. 5. The game is set to start at 4 p.m. from Keystone Arena.