KUTZTOWN, Pa. – On the eve of opening play in the 2017 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament, the Kutztown University men's basketball team cracked the top-five of the National Association of Basketball Coaches' (NABC) Division II Men's Basketball Poll on Tuesday.
 
The top seed in the PSAC East, KU (24-2) hosts fifth-seeded West Chester (14-14) on Wednesday, March 1 at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing the this weekend's PSAC Final Four, which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed in the PSAC West at the conclusion of Quarterfinal play on Wednesday night. It will be the Maroon and Gold's fourth consecutive PSAC Tournament appearance, and 14th in the previous 15 years.
 
Kutztown joins the 2009-10 team, which peaked at No. 2 after beginning its season 14-0, as the only team in program history to crack the top-five of the national rankings. In the midst of a 16-game win streak, the second-longest in program history and the third-longest current streak in the country, the Golden Bears moved up one spot after two weeks at No. 6.
 
KU follows Fairmont State, which received 15-of-16 first-place votes, Indiana (PA), Northwest Missouri State and Bellarmine in the top-four, which remained the same from a week ago.
 
Notably, with Fairmont State, IUP and Kutztown, the top-two teams, and three of the top-five, in the poll are from the Atlantic Region. The NCAA's final NCAA Atlantic Region Rankings before next Sunday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be released tomorrow. The Rankings are an indicator of the eight teams from the region that will be selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Wednesday's matchup with West Chester will be a rematch of KU's regular-season finale from Saturday, Feb. 25, in which the Maroon and Gold came out on top with a road victory by a score of 91-85 to clinch the outright PSAC East title.
 
Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) poured in 24 points, one shy of a season-high, on a career-high 7-of-11 3-pointers, which was one shy of the school record. In the process, he became KU's all-time leader in career trifectas with 220 and moved just four away from trying the program record with 72 in a season. The redshirt-senior is currently eighth in the PSAC in 3-pointers per game (2.6) and third In 3-point percentage (.422).
 
Also moving his way up the record books was Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin), who tied his own single-game school record with 14 assists to move into second in the program annals with 434 for his career. The junior is currently 13 shy of the school record held by Stephen Dennis. He ranks second in all of Division II at 8.8 assists per game.
 
Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) was Kutztown's second-leading scorer in the contest with 22 points to raise his team-leading scoring average to 16.1 points, good for 12th in the PSAC. He is also sixth in the league in field goal percentage (.554) and steals per game (1.9), ninth in blocks per game (1.1) and 13th in 3-pointers per game (2.3). His .554 3-point percentage would be leading not only the conference, but the entire NCAA if qualified (min 2.5 per game). The redshirt-sophomore is averaging an impressive 25.5 points per game against West Chester this season after pouring in a career-high 29 against the Golden Rams earlier in year in Keystone Arena on Jan. 25.
 
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) is also all over the top of the PSAC rankings, including leading the league and ranking 10th in the NCAA with a .638 field goal percentage. He is also at eighth in the conference in both rebounds per game (7.2) and blocks per game (1.1), and 16th in both points per game (15.4) and steals per game (1.6). The senior is five field goals (653) and 11 rebounds (864) shy of moving into second place in KU history in both categories.
 
Rounding out KU's starting-five is Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg), who is third in the PSAC with a .612 field goal percentage. He has scored 18+points in 4-of-the-last-8 games, including contributing 18 on Saturday, and ranks 23rd in the PSAC at 14.2 points per game.
 
Notably, main sixth-man Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) moved into sixth in program history with his 350th assist on Saturday, and he is currently just five away from moving into the top-five. The senior currently ranks 25th in the PSAC at 2.5 assists per game.
 
West Chester setup Wednesday's matchup by rebounding from its loss to KU to go on the road and defeat fourth-seeded Bloomsburg, 84-77, on Monday night. Five Golden Rams scored in double-figures, highlighted by double-doubles from both Tyrell Long (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Jackson Hyland (16 points, 11 rebounds).
 
It was the third straight double-doubles for both players, who both recorded one against Kutztown last Saturday. Notably, Hyland was dominant all afternoon with game-highs of 34 points on 12-of-15 shooting and 14 rebounds.
 
Malik Jackson leads West Chester at 19.3 points per game, good for fifth in the PSAC. The Golden Rams are 5-2 in their last seven games, with the two losses coming by a combined seven points.