BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team suffered its first defeat in 21 days in an overtime dual on the road with Bloomsburg University, 81-77, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division contest inside of Nelson Field House.
 
Coupled with East Stroudsburg's 88-83 win at home over West Chester Wednesday evening, Kutztown and West Chester remain tied for first place in the PSAC East. East Stroudsburg has roared its way back to within a game of first place in the division.
 
Kutztown led Bloomsburg, 60-53, with 8:11 left in regulation, the largest lead of the second half for either team. The Huskies responded with an 11-3 run by making all four of their field goals and holding KU to 1-of-4 shooting and a turnover to take a 64-63 lead with 4:58 to play.
 
KU led by three with 1:06 to play. Bloomsburg's Malik Garner cashed in a layup the following possession with 37 seconds left to cut its deficit to one, but Kutztown split its ensuing free throws to give Bloomsburg the ball, down 69-67 with 20 seconds to play. KU needed to grab just one rebound to all but secure the victory, but Bloomsburg's Christian Mortellite rebounded his own miss not once, but twice in the final 10 seconds and laid in the game-tying bucket with five seconds to play. KU turned the ball over on its final possession of regulation to head to overtime.
 
Kutztown quickly found a five-point advantage in overtime, thanks to a Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) triple and two converted free throws. Connolly would end the game with 10 points.
 
There were only two combined field goals in overtime as the final 13 points were scored at the free throw line. Bloomsburg made 10-of-13 free throws in the extra period, while Kutztown missed its final four field goal attempts of the game, shot 3-of-7 from the charity stripe and gave Bloomsburg two extra possessions off turnovers to seal its fate. KU failed to score for the final 1:43.
 
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) picked up a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds in only 26 minutes of play.  Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland), who played a career-high 43 minutes due to a shortened bench, tallied 13 points and seven rebounds.
 
Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.  Anthony Selby (Jersey City, N.J./Williamstown (Burlington County CC)) hauled in six rebounds and 13 points, his fourth straight game of double-digit scoring.
 
Kutztown was more efficient from the field than Bloomsburg as it pulled out the advantage in field-goal percentage (45.0-39.7). Kutztown also doubled Bloomsburg in 3-pointer's (6-3), but KU was -6 in turnovers.
 
Bloomsburg received more than half of its offensive output from Mortellite and Malik Garner, as the duo combined for 45 points. Mortellite finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds while Garner had a similar line of 20 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Kutztown will look to bounce back this upcoming weekend and continue its perfect record on its home court against East Stroudsburg on Saturday, Feb. 6, in its annual Play4Kay game. One streak will end on Saturday as KU defends a 12-0 home record this season and a 15-game winning streak at home, while East Stroudsburg rides a nine-game winning streak over Kutztown. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.