Photo Gallery | Pre-Game/In-Game Highlights PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – A 7'0" center put Kutztown University in a 17-point halftime deficit, but good defense and determination mounted a comeback that cut Philadelphia University's lead to four in the second half. If KU could have a couple possessions back, it could have erased the deficit, but the Golden Bears fell 89-82 Wednesday night in non-conference men's basketball action at the Gallagher Athletic Center.
The Golden Bears (12-3) trailed the Rams (14-4) by four on three occasions in the second half with as much as 8:07 to play, and as late as 41 seconds remaining.
Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) scored a career-high 21 points off the bench. He shot 8-for-16 from the field, a perfect 3-for-3 at the free throw line and added two 3-pointers to round out his shooting night. He dished out a team-high four assists in 30 minutes.
Ridgeway led a bench that scored 31 points Wednesday, right on its season-average, an average that ranks atop any of head coach
Bernie Driscoll's previous 15 teams.
68 of Kutztown's 82 points came from four players. Along with Ridgeway's 21,
Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) and
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) scored 17 apiece, as Johnson notched a double-double with 11 rebounds, six offensive.
Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) added 13 points with two 3-pointers that fueled the comeback.
Peter Alexis scored 23 points in the first half and Philadelphia shot 63.9 percent to lead by 17 at halftime, 55-38. Kutztown's defense stepped up in the second half and limited Alexis to just two shots and two points in the second half, combined with three second-half fouls to foul him out of the game with 7:49 to play.
Will Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep (McMurry)) played a crucial role on both ends of the floor in the second half to aid in the comeback. He scored eight points and six of his nine rebounds came in the second-half. He notched two blocks and a steal in the second half as well.
The Rams led by a game-high 21 with 15:15 to play, but Kutztown kicked into gear with a 9-0 run in just more than 3:00 to cut the deficit to 66-54 with 12:04 to play.
Following a Philadelphia bucket coming out of a timeout, Kutztown posted another lengthy run of 13-3 in another 3:00 spurt to trail by 71-67 with 8:07 to play. The deficit stood at four with 6:46 to play and 41 seconds to play, but Kutztown was unable to turn it into a one-possession game.
Philadelphia scored its last 11 points from the free throw line as its final field goal dropped with 3:41 to play.
Alexis finished with 25 points and nine rebounds for Philadelphia. The Rams traditionally feature a five-six man rotation, and did stray from it on Wednesday. Kaison Randolph scored 22 points, Brendan Kilpatrick had 14 and TJ Huggins scored 13. Outside of Alexis' 27 minutes after fouling out, Philadelphia's other four starters all played 39+ minutes.
KU shot 39.2 percent from the field and made 19-of-24 free throws with four players holding perfect percentages. KU out-rebounded the Rams 45-35 and scored eight more second-chance points, but the halftime deficit simply was too much to overcome.
Kutztown returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 16 at East Stroudsburg University, a battle of top-three teams in the Eastern Division. Tipoff at ESU's Koehler Fieldhouse is set for 3 p.m.
