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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Five Kutztown University men's basketball players scored in double-figures, including sophomore Josh Townsend (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter), who finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, in taking down Bowie State University 87-79 Wednesday night at Keystone Arena to finish off its non-conference portion of its regular season schedule.
 
The 12 points and 10 rebounds were career-highs for Townsend, who notched the first double-double of his career, while also tying career-highs in blocks (2) and assists (1) in 22 minutes of action in his third career start.
 
Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) led all scorers in the game with 21 points. Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) tallied 18, followed by 12 points from Rafiq Marshall (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz (Cheyney)) and 10 from Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) to round out the KU scorers in double-figures.
 
With the Bulldogs running mostly a four-guard lineup, head coach Bernie Driscoll saw the advantage inside with the 6-7 Townsend and Cuevas. Along with 6-7 Moe Williams (Townsend, Del./Life Center Academy), the trio were forces in the paint, combining for 19 rebounds as Kutztown outrebounded Bowie State 44-32 overall.
 
The Golden Bears (7-1 overall, 3-1 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) opened the game with a layup by Townsend, but then the Bulldogs answered on the other end with a 3-pointer by Dayshawn Wells (18 points).
 
That 3-2 deficit 1:30 in would be the only time KU trailed for the remainder of the game. KU rattled off the next seven points and 25-of-30 and led by as much as 22 (32-10) midway through the first half.
 
Kutztown used the speed of its guards to break the full-court press put on by the Bulldogs, and on the other end of the court, pressured Bowie State shooters to go 35.5% (11-for-31) from the field as KU took a 49-34 lead into halftime.
 
The Maroon and Gold continued its hot play in the second half, holding a lead by as much as 20 (62-42), and were up 18 (70-52) with 10:43 remaining. But Bowie State chipped away at its deficit, and went on a 14-4 run over a span of 4:44 to find itself down just 81-77 with 1:46 to go.
 
But just as they have done all season, Kutztown's leading scorers stepped up.
 
Lee connected on a layup and Ridgeway made 2-of-2 from the free-throw line to put KU back up by eight (85-77) with 0:28 left as it was able to see its way out for a fifth straight win and seven of its first eight. Kutztown is undefeated at home, and has not lost at Keystone Arena since it fell to Shippensburg back on Dec. 30, 2016, winning 14 straight in front of the home crowd.
 
Five other Golden Bears found the score column, making it 10 different players on the night. Williams and Max Wagner (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) both chipped in four points, and Ricky Hicks (Coatesville, Pa./Polytech), Demetrius Bennett (Conshohocken, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh (Neumann)) and Kiyon Hardy (Philadelphia, Pa./The Shipley School) each added two points respectively, as 12 KU players saw time against the Bulldogs.
 
Lee nabbed two steals, adding to his PSAC lead of 23 on the season. Ridgeway dished out a game-high nine assists, giving him 60 on the season, first in the PSAC.
 
Kutztown takes on Seton Hill University on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. at Keystone Arena, before a three-week layoff until its next game.