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- WFMZ: KU men notch huge win at Shippensburg
- Reading Eagle: Kutztown men beat Shippensburg in showdown

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Two of the best men's basketball teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and Division II faced off Wednesday night for the second time this season. No. 10 Kutztown University built a double-digit lead in the first half and never looked back against No. 9 Shippensburg University in a historic road victory for Kutztown, 81-75, at Heiges Field House.
 
Wednesday night marked the first time in either program's history that KU or SHIP played in a top-10 showdown. Kutztown (17-2, 13-2 PSAC) avenged its loss earlier this season on Dec. 30 at Keystone Arena with a strong road win to move within a half-game of the Raiders (18-2, 14-2) for first place in the PSAC Eastern Division.
 
The win stretched KU's season-long winning streak to nine, while snapping Shippensburg's 21-game home winning streak dating back to December 2015. The Raiders, after starting 17-0, have dropped their last two.
 
While the Golden Bears hope to put themselves in position to clinch more than just a playoff berth, their win Wednesday night clinched the Golden Bears one of the six East playoff spots in the PSAC Tournament.
 
Kutztown led by seven at halftime and opened the second half on a 14-4 run to lead by as many as 17 with 14:48 to play. Similar to KU's road win at ESU earlier this year, Shippensburg made a run on its home floor to pull within three with less than two minutes to play in regulation, but timely buckets and free throws by multiple Golden Bears preserved the lead.
 
Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) led the charge offensively with 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.  The junior moves into second in KU single-season history with 157 assists and fourth all-time with 362 – the most by a junior in school history.
 
As a team, Kutztown shot 53.4 percent from the field while holding Shippensburg to 41.7. KU held the Raiders to 6-for-27 from 3-point range, compared to the previous meeting when the Raiders made 11 3's on 57 percent.
 
Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) played extremely well against one of the best front-lines in the PSAC. The sophomore put up 18 points (8-for-11 FG) and eight rebounds and used a variety of low-post moves to make his mark. He has scored 15+ in eight of his last nine games.
 
Ridgeway and Cuevas helped lead KU to winning the battle of the boards, 37-32, pushing KU to 10-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
 
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) battled foul trouble to finish with 12 points and four rebounds, one point shy of moving into fourth all-time in career scoring. His five field goals put him past 600 for his career at 602 to move him into fourth in school history.
 
Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) scored 11 points and Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) finished with 10. Notably, Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) drained a pair of timely 3-pointers in the second half to keep KU out in front to finish with eight points.
 
Those six players accounted for 79 of KU's 81 points.
 
Shippensburg's Dustin Sleva poured in a career-high 28 points, while Abe Massaley added 17 for Shippensburg's top scoring duo.
 
Kutztown looks to build its first 10-game winning streak since winning 14 in a row in 2009-10 this Saturday, Feb. 4, at Keystone Arena. KU hosts Lock Haven University in PSAC East action beginning at 3 p.m. KU defeated the Bald Eagles on Jan. 6 on the road, 83-82.