Senior Night Photo Gallery

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team are Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Champions.
 
The Golden Bears won their senior day and regular-season finale against No. 17 West Chester University, 81-77, Wednesday at Keystone Arena.
 
With the victory, Kutztown (21-5, 18-4 PSAC) guaranteed itself home-court advantage throughout the PSAC Tournament. The Golden Bears are on a 17-game winning-streak at home, including 14-0 this season.  
 
Kutztown will host the winner of Shippensburg/Bloomsburg on Tuesday, March 1 at 7 p.m.  The win was the first Eastern Division title for KU since 2012, and sixth in program history.
 
Senior Will Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep (McMurry)), making his first start, started off his strong game by giving Kutztown a 2-0 lead of off a tip-in eight seconds into the game.  The Golden Bears would never trail for the rest of the evening.  Adams finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes.  
 
"Will's Will," KU head coach Bernie Driscoll after the win.  "Will played great.  He played with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of heart. He did a great job."
 
Good offense was expected coming into this game with both teams being two of the best scoring teams in the PSAC.  The two sides would take turns showing off their scoring ability, going on multiple runs apiece.
 
Kutztown went into the half with a 35-27 lead, and started the second with a 16-8 run to make it 52-35.  West Chester answered right back with a 9-0 run off its own to cut it to 52-44 with a little more less than nine minutes remaining.
 
The teams continued to trade points back and forth for the rest of the game.  KU and WCU combined for 64 points over the remaining nine minutes of play.  West Chester got as close as six points with 1:42 left in the game, but Kutztown made 9-of-10 free-throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
"The kids played hard," Driscoll said. "It wasn't a clean game, it wasn't smooth, but that's been us - we play hard."
 
Kutztown had six players finish the game in double-digit scoring.  Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) led the offense with 16 points.  Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) added 15 and eight rebounds, while Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) and Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) both had 12.  Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) and Adams both chipped in 10.  The Golden Bears held an advantage in the paint, 36-16.  KU also shot 46.3 percent from the field, while holding the Golden Rams to 32.8 percent.
 
West Chester (21-5, 17-5) was led on offense by freshman Malik Jackson's 22 points.  Matt Penecale added 18. Matt Wiseley ended the game with a double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds).
 
"They were excited, really excited," Driscoll said of his team. "I think this puts us in a nice position for the PSAC Tournament and possibly the NCAA Tournament.
  
"It was great to see the [students] come out tonight," Driscoll added. "They walked out from the locker room to warm up, and you look up to the top of the stands and there's no place anywhere. It's a credit to those kids, they play hard."