KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Offensively, Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) scored a career-high 29 points and made 13-of-15 free throws. Defensively, the Kutztown University men's basketball team stood tough against Gannon University and used strong defense to catapult a 41-5 run midway through its eventual 80-49 victory on Sunday afternoon in a rematch of last year's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinal.
 
Trailing by nine with 8:02 to play in the first half, Kutztown mounted a 21-0 run to end the half. To open the second half, KU answered once again with a 20-5 run, including a 16-0 spurt, to open its lead to 27 with 11 minutes to play. In the combined 41-5 run, KU shot 10-of-20, but more importantly, held Gannon to 2-of-15 shooting and 13 turnovers.
 
For the game, Kutztown held strong advantages in points in the paint (36-16) and points off turnovers (31-7).
 
The Golden Bears (10-2, 7-2 PSAC) avenged last year's season-ending loss to the Golden Knights (2-10, 1-8) in the conference tournament.

Kutztown defeated Gannon for only the second time in 15 all-time meetings and first time since a 75-59 victory at Keystone Arena in 2009-10. Sunday's decision snapped Gannon's four-game win streak in the series.
 
Kutztown won its 10th consecutive home game dating back to last season.
 
Connolly missed a game last week due to injury, but returned Sunday with a vengeance. His 29 points led all scorers and marked the most by a Golden Bear this season. He made four three-pointers and 13 free throws to cap his 27-minute game.
 
Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) shot an effective 7-for-9 for 16 points, including a pair of breakaway dunks in the second half, to go with a team-high three steals.
 
The duo of Connolly and Lee combined for more than half of Kutztown's points, but as a whole, 13 players saw the floor and 10 scored.
 
Point guard Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) had an all-around game with seven points, a season-high six assists for the second straight game, and five rebounds. Beidelman holds a 12/3 assist/turnover ratio the last two games, and has grabbed five rebounds in five of KU's last six.
 
Gannon struggled to find an offensive rhythm despite leading by as many as nine with 8:02 to play in the first half. Its scoring ran through two players, Kevin Kuteyi and Ian Gardener. Kuteyi scored 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting and Gardener followed with 12 points and five rebounds.
 
Kutztown is the second 10-win team in the PSAC East, behind division-leading West Chester (11-1, 7-1).
 
The Golden Bears remain in conference-play for all but one game for the remainder of the season. It closes crossover play on Wednesday, Jan. 6 with a road game at Clarion University beginning at 7:30 p.m.