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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team had one of its best halves in recent memory on Wednesday night. It shot 82.8 percent from the field in the first half and led by as many as 31 points, but needed to stave off a late comeback by Bloomsburg University to secure a 99-94 win at Keystone Arena.
 
Wednesday marked Senior Night for Tyler Brooks, Fred Dukes IV, Rell Sherman and Tynell Fortune. All four Golden Bears started their final regular season game on their home floor, and led KU to a dominant opening 20 minutes. KU shot 24-for-29 in the first half (82.8 percent), had 18 assists to two turnovers, led by as many as 31, and held a 60-32 lead at halftime.
 
It marked the first time KU scored 60 points in a half since Jan. 6, 2012, when KU scored 65 in the first half at Edinboro in a 104-84 win. Notably, the NCAA Division II record for field goal percentage in a half is 95.0 percent (19-of-20) by Abilene Christian in 1989.
 
All four of KU's seniors buried a three-pointer in the first 5:09 of play, as KU shot 6-of-9 from downtown in the first half.
 
The game seemed all but over at halftime, as a near 30-point lead had most of Keystone Arena feeling comfortable in their pink t-shirts in honor of KU's annual Play4Kay night. Just as it did in the team's first meeting this season, Bloomsburg continued to grind, attack the basket, and knock down long-range shots to get itself back in the game.
 
Trailing by 24 with less than 14:00 to play, the Huskies embarked on a 24-7 run over the next seven minutes to put themselves down seven (81-74) with 6:11 to play. Redshirt freshman Christian Mortellite, who scored 37 points in a game last week, led the charge with 10 points during the run. KU kept its composure down the stretch though, as it allowed Bloomsburg to get within five points, but never with a chance to cut the game to one possession.
 
The Golden Bears (17-10, 14-7 PSAC) remain in sole possession of second place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division. KU is 1.5 games behind first place East Stroudsburg (17-8, 15-5), who clinched at least a share of the PSAC East title, and the No. 1 seed in the East with a win at third-place West Chester (14-12, 12-8) on Wednesday night.
 
Kutztown has a bye on Saturday, but will be keeping its eyes on the out-of-town scoreboard. If ESU wins at Mansfield (10-14, 8-12) on Saturday, ESU will win its third straight outright PSAC East title. If ESU loses on Saturday, KU will play for a share of the title next Wednesday at East Stroudsburg in the regular-season finale (Feb. 25). ESU holds the tiebreaker over KU with a 2-0 record over West Chester, whereas KU went 0-2.
 
KU can seal a first round bye if West Chester loses one of its final two games, or if KU wins at ESU next Wednesday. West Chester plays at Cheyney (2-23, 1-19) on Saturday and at home vs. Mansfield next Wednesday. If KU and West Chester are tied in the final regular season standings, West Chester holds the tiebreaker with two wins over KU.
 
Diving back into the KU-BU final, sophomore Josh Johnson scored a game-high 28 points on 9-of-10 shooting, including a 10-for-12 performance at the free throw line, marking career-highs in makes and attempts at the charity stripe. He grabbed seven rebounds with two blocks in 29 minutes, and left his mark on the Huskies on Wednesday night with dunk-after-dunk, including multiple high-flying jams in transition.
 
With the high scoring night, Johnson goes over 750 career points in his 54 career games, not even through with his sophomore season yet.
 
Running-mate Anthony Selby shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the field and scored 18 points to aid Johnson in Kutztown's front-court attack. He grabbed six rebounds with two blocks.
 
Fortune closed the night with 17 points, 8-of-10 at the free throw line, with three three-pointers. Dukes IV rounded out KU's four double-digit scorers with 11 points and four assists. Fellow point guards Austin Beidelman and Ethan Ridgeway also added four assists apiece, as KU finished with 24 assists and 13 turnovers, 10 coming in the second half.
 
Brooks had six rebounds, one block and one steal, moving him into fifth all-time at KU with 136 career blocks and ninth all-time with 146 career steals.
 
Kutztown finished the game at 65.3 percent from the field, 0.1 percent off the school-record mark set earlier this season against Cheyney (.654).
 
For Bloomsburg, Charles Haigler (24), Alssene Saintilus (22) and Mortellite (22) combined for 68 of the team's 94 points. Bloomsburg shot 46.2 percent from the field, 54.3 percent in the second half, and shot 27-for-36 at the free throw line.
 
Game time at East Stroudsburg next Wednesday, Feb. 25, is set for 8 p.m. at Koehler Fieldhouse.