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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team trailed by nearly 20 points in the first half, but showed its never-give-up attitude down the stretch as it took down East Stroudsburg University, 90-83, on Saturday to remain in first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings.
 
The win over East Stroudsburg marked the first time any of the current Golden Bears got the taste of victory over East Stroudsburg, as the Warriors held a nine-game winning streak over Kutztown entering Saturday and winners of 11 of the last 12 meetings. Saturday was KU's first win over ESU since Jan. 14, 2012 and its first at Keystone Arena since Jan. 22, 2011, more than five years ago.
 
Kutztown (18-5, 15-4 PSAC) remains perfect at home this season at 13-0 and holds a 16-game winning streak at Keystone Arena dating back to last season. Coupled with West Chester's win over Mansfield on Saturday, KU and WCU remain tied for first place in the East and are set to meet in the regular-season finale on Wednesday, Feb. 24 with the PSAC East title potentially on the line.
 
Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) was the late-game hero for Kutztown. One of the many MVP-worthy candidates of a potential 20-win and nationally-ranked Kutztown team this season, Connolly scored Kutztown's final nine points of the game as KU finished on an 11-1 run. Connolly buried a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left to give KU an 84-82 lead, the final lead change of the night, and made all six of his free throw attempts in the final minute to prevent ESU from pulling within a possession late.
 
Connolly finished with 19 points, including a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 8-for-8 at the free throw line, to go along with seven rebounds.
 
Three of Kutztown's starters found themselves in foul trouble in the first half, and East Stroudsburg took advantage. The Golden Bears trailed by 17 in the final minutes of the first half, and despite drawing within nine at halftime off a 10-2 run, was again put to the task of a later, 14-point deficit with 15:35 to play.
 
The bench gave Kutztown its biggest spark of the day with inspiring efforts from multiple players.
 
Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) led an ensuing 23-10 attack over the next six minutes for Kutztown to trail by one, 68-67, with 9:26 to play. Ridgeway was the catalyst in bringing Kutztown back from near-improbable circumstances against the Warriors (17-6, 13-6), a perennial power in the PSAC. He scored 20 points, one off his career-high and flirted with a triple-double as the 5-10 point guard grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and dished out seven assists.
 
Will Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep (McMurry)) scored a team-high seven points during the lengthy second-half run and grabbed key rebounds to keep momentum in Kutztown's favor. He finished with nine points, three rebounds and two blocks.
 
Kutztown kept knocking on the door to take its first lead since 2-0, and its persistence and determination got it a Ridgeway layup, his 20th point of the night, with 4:12 to play and a 77-75 Golden Bear lead.
 
East Stroudsburg scored five straight points to put a scare into Keystone Arena, as it led KU 82-79 with 2:25 to play; but just as KU did against Shippensburg a week ago, the last two minutes belonged to the Golden Bears.
 
ESU's last field goal was a Jamal Nwaniemeka 3-pointer with 2:25 to play that gave it the three-point advantage, as Kutztown finished the game on a 10-point, 11-1 run. In an 81-78 win over Shippensburg last week, KU ended the game on a 10-0 run.
 
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) gave KU back the one-point lead (82-81) with 2:03 to play off a layup and Ridgeway's seventh assist of the game, and KU forced two missed shots from ESU before Connolly buried his timely 3-pointer with 59 seconds left off a transition pass from Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland).
 
The assist was Beidelman's third of the game and the 256th of his career, moving him into eighth all-time in program history.
 
Johnson finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and moved into 10th all-time with 443 career field goals and 16th with 1,151 career points.
 
Freshman Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) rounded out Kutztown's four double-digit scorers with 11 points.
 
Nwaniemeka led ESU in scoring off the bench, his first game off the bench this season, and was one of two 16-point scorers for the Warriors along with Rasheed Moore. Steve Harris notched a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, freshman Najee Walls added 11 points and six assists, and Quindell Brice finished with 10 points.
 
Kutztown hits the road for two games next week before its regular season and home-finale vs. West Chester. Next up is a road game at Cheyney University on Monday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a trip to Mansfield University on Saturday, Feb. 20 for a 3 p.m. tip.