NABC Division II Basketball Poll | Video | Live Stats |  KU Game Notes
 
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – For the second time this season, the Kutztown University men's basketball team was ranked ninth when the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) released its Division II Men's Basketball Poll on Wednesday afternoon. The Golden Bears will carry that No. 9 ranking into tomorrow, Feb. 8, when they face off against Mansfield University for the second time this season in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) showdown at 7:30 p.m. inside of Keystone Arena.
 
In the first meeting between the two teams, KU's Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime to give the Golden Bears a 91-88 victory.
 
Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) was the star for the Maroon and Gold in this one with 25 points that included six 3-pointers.
 
Right behind Connolly was Mansfield's Matt Tamanosky, who notched a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Winners of 10 in a row, Kutztown enters the rematch with a record of 18-2 and 14-2 in the PSAC. It holds the best active winning streak in the PSAC East, second only to Indiana (PA) in the entire PSAC, and has the seventh-longest active winning streak in all of Division II. An 11th straight win would give the Maroon and Gold their longest winning streak since the 2009-10 team started the season 14-0.
 
The Golden Bears are also currently a half-game behind No. 13 Shippensburg - who they defeated 81-75 last Wednesday, Feb. 1 - for the top spot in the PSAC East. Both KU and SHIP have already clinched a berth in the postseason.
 
KU was last ranked ninth when the NABC released its first poll of the regular season on Nov. 22. The Maroon and Gold reached as high as No. 8 the following week but fell to as low as No. 19 following its second loss of the season to Shippensburg on Dec. 30.
 
Since then, Kutztown has not lost a game and has improved in the rankings for five consecutive weeks.
 
Mansfield is currently one game up on Lock Haven for the sixth and final spot in the PSAC playoffs. It enters Wednesday with a record of 9-11 overall and 7-10 in the PSAC. The Mountaineers have won their last two games, defeating Millersville last Wednesday, 62-54, and Cheyney on Saturday, 82-64.
 
Kutztown enters the game averaging the second most points scored per game in the PSAC at 88.5. It is also leading the PSAC in field goal percentage at 50.2 percent.
 
Kutztown has been led by Ridgeway this season, who is third on the team in scoring (14.5 points per game), fifth in rebounds (4.7) and is first on the team in assists (8.4). He is leading the PSAC and ranks third in the NCAA in assists per game. The junior is just three assists shy of breaking the program record for assists in a single season (170).
 
Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) has been the top scorer for Kutztown this season at 16.0 points per game, good for 13th in the PSAC. Much of his damage this season has been done from deep, as he currently is sitting at 57.3 percent from 3-point range for the season. Lee needs to average 2.5 made 3-pointers per game to qualify for the NCAA minimum, which would make him the best 3-point shooter in Division II, but he currently stands at 2.35/game.
 
After Lee and Ridgeway, most of the remaining production comes from the rest of the starting lineup for the Golden Bears.
 
Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) has been a rock in the paint for Kutztown this season, averaging a solid 15.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He also leads the team with 23 blocks.
 
Connolly is averaging 12.7 points and is shooting 44.3 percent from beyond the arc. He is currently at 206 made 3-pointers for his career, just nine shy of breaking the program record.
 
Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) has been on a bit of a hot streak, as he will look to make it five straight games scoring in double figures. He currently sits at 14.4 points per game, good for fourth on the team.
 
Similar to the Golden Bears, Mansfield finds most of its production from its starting lineup.
 
Leading the way for the Mountaineers is Tamanosky at 17.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Close behind Tamanosky is Malik Carter with averages of 16.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.