Additional Links
- Reading Eagle: Kutztown beats Mansfield in OT
- WFMZ: Big night for Kutztown Hoops vs. Mansfield

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The No. 9 Kutztown University men's basketball team just continues to find a way to win. Facing adversity on Wednesday night as a double-digit lead was erased, the Golden Bears erased a four-point deficit in the final minutes of the game to force overtime, where they would go on to pull away from Mansfield for their 11th straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) victory, 83-79, on Wednesday night at Keystone Arena.
 
The 11-game winning streak is KU's (19-2, 15-2 PSAC) longest since the 2009-10 team started its season 14-0. The win also meant the Maroon and Gold have now won 19 games for a third straight campaign for just a second time in program history (2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10).
 
Facing its largest deficit of the night, 57-62, with 8:42 remaining, Kutztown slowly chipped away and would tie the game at 64 on Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington)'s 3-pointer with 5:08 to go. The game would remain scoreless for the next two plus minutes until the Golden Bears took their first lead since the 14:04 mark of the second half when Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) found Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) on a backdoor cut for a layup with 2:42 left.
 
Mansfield (9-12, 7-11) would respond with six unanswered points over the next 1:35 to go on top 70-66 with 1:17 to play, but Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) scored four points in just 24 seconds to tie the game with 46 seconds remaining.
 
Both teams would miss their final shot in regulation and the game would head to overtime.
 
Mansfield took control with the first basket of the extra period, a 3-pointer, but Ridgeway and Lee both went 2-of-2 from the free throw line to help Kutztown retake the lead 1:42 in. A Mountaineer layup and Ridgeway free throw then evened the score back up at 75 with 2:46 to go.
 
Applying defensive pressure out of the made free throw, Lee forced a steal and found a streaking Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) for a breakaway dunk that turned out to be the game-winner. After forcing a stop, Ridgeway provided crucial insurance with a dramatic 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer for an 80-75 lead with just 1:25 to play.
 
Mansfield got as close as two, 81-79, on a layup with 24 seconds left, but Johnson came through one final time by hitting 2-of-2 at the line to seal the victory.
 
Johnson led KU with 22 points and 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double and his team-leading sixth of the season. Notably, he became just the third player in program history to surpass 800 career rebounds during the first half. The senior also blocked two shots and added a steal.
 
Cuevas was KU's most efficient player on the night, making his first seven shots en route to 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He has now scored 15+ points in 10-of-his-last-11 games. The sophomore set a new career-high with four steals and also had five rebounds.
 
Ridgeway scored 11 of Kutztown's last 17 points to finish with 18 on the night. He also dished out a team-high seven assists to break Maurice Bryant's school record from 2005-06 as he ended the night with 175 on the year.
 
Notably, Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) also moved his way up the record book, moving into seventh place in program history with his 331st career assist.
 
Lee was the next highest KU scorer at eight points, and more importantly, applied defensive pressure all night to finish with a career-high three blocks and three steals.
 
Max Wagner (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) record Kutztown's second-highest rebounding total with six boards, to go along with four points and two steals, in just nine minutes.
 
Connolly contributed five points – to move into 19th on the all-time scoring list with 1,073 career points - four rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

As a team, Kutztown recorded a season-high 16 steals – its highest total since finishing with 17 at Penn State Berks on Nov. 20, 2010 - while its seven blocks were its second-highest total of the year. The Maroon and Gold forced 20+ turnovers for a remarkable tenth time this season. Committing just nine, KU had a 20-11 edge in points off turnovers, which included the eventual game-winning dunk.
 
Malik Carter kept Mansfield in the game with a game-high 27 points to go along with seven rebounds.
 
Da'Quan finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Jahyde Gardiner also pulled down 10 boards.
 
Cedrick Powell led all players with 10 assists.
 
Leading by as many as 12 in the first half, by 10 at halftime, and 47-38 after Johnson dunked home a Wagner pass with 14:57 remaining, Kutztown was in control for much of the night, but Mansfield used 12 unanswered over a stretch of 2:05 midway through the second half to take just its second lead of the night, 53-49, with 12:36 remaining.
 
That advantage would reach five on five separate occasions, including the one final time, 62-57, with 8:01 to go.
 
KU goes for 12 in a row on Saturday, Feb. 11 with a 1 p.m. tip at Cheyney.