Photo Gallery  |  Audio Replay (KUR)
 
FAIRMONT, W.Va. – A historic campaign for the No. 10 Kutztown University men's basketball team came to an end with a 94-80 loss to No. 8 Indiana (PA) in the First Round of the Atlantic Regional at Joe Retton Arena on Saturday night.
 
Trailing by as many as 13 in the first half, and six at halftime, KU cut the deficit to three twice early in the second half, the latter of the two coming when Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg)' jumper made the score 44-47 just 2:07 out of the locker room.
 
IUP (28-3) scored the next 10 points though, over 2:30 to extend the lead back to 13 with 15:23 remaining, and Kutztown was not able to make it a one-possession game the rest of the night.
 
The closest KU came was within five twice, including when Austin Beidelman (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland)'s layup made it 67-72 with 7:39 to go.
 
The game was still within reach at 76-83 after an Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) layup with 4:18 left, but Indiana put the contest out of reach by answering with a 7-0 run.
 
KU (26-4) ends its season with the second-most wins in a single season in program history, trailing only the 2008-09 team's 28. Notably, the Golden Bears set the school record with 18 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) victories and tied a 100-year-old record with an 18-game win streak.
 
Freshman Max Wagner (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) led Kutztown with a career-high 14 points, surpassing his previous career-best with 10 in the first half. All three of his career-high three steals also came before the break.
 
Lee and Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) added 13 points apiece. Lee made one three-pointer to end the season with 67, tied for ninth in the program annals, while Ridgeway dished out three assists to increase his program record to 260, which moved him into fifth in PSAC single-season history. He also made two free throws to move into a tie for eighth in KU history with 133 this season.
 
Senior Josh Johnson (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) ended his historic career with 12 points and five rebounds. He ends his four years second in Kutztown history with 883 rebounds and third with 1,702 points.
 
Also ending their careers and run in the record books on Saturday night was Ryan Connolly (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) and Beidelman.
 
Connolly made one 3-pointer to end his career with a program record 229, which included a KU record 77 this season. He also grabbed eight rebounds, one shy of a season-high, to become the 10th Golden Bear in program history to surpass 500 in a career. His five points gave him 1,191 in his time with the Maroon and Gold, good for 15th in program history.
 
Beidelman scored eight points and ends his career fifth in Kutztown history with 356 assists.
 
Rounding out the senior class, Howard Sellars (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area (Saint Peter's)) and Martin Dietrich (Maytown, Pa./Donegal) scored two points each, respectively, in their final games with the Golden Bears.
 
"As a whole, I would say our whole senior class has done a fantastic job at setting a great foundation for what this program can become," Beidelman said after the game.  
 
"These kids are great. They were a joy to coach. They practice hard, they play hard and they truly do enjoy each other," added head coach Bernie Driscoll. "I am not going to look back at this team and remember the wins on the court, I am going to look back on the times off the court. They just enjoyed each other's company, and I am not too sure that we are ever going to mirror that again."
 
"These guys grew together, they are going to graduate together and as a coach it is neat to be part of that," Driscoll continued. "You value that as a coach, and I was very blessed to have these young men stick with us and play their hearts for Kutztown.
 
Completing the scoring, Cuevas battled foul trouble to score 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 13 minutes.
 
KU grabbed a season-high 19 offensive rebounds to end up with 14 more field goal attempts than Indiana, 71-54, but the Crimson Hawks still made three more field goal attempts.
 
IUP shot 57.9 percent (33-of-57) compared to Kutztown's 42.3 percent (30-of-71) and made a remarkable 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) from 3-point range. The Crimson Hawks were also 14-of-16 (87.5) from the free throw line, compared to 16-of-32 for the Maroon and Gold.
 
Leading the charge was Dante Lombardi with 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and 4-of-4 from the free line. He also dished out a game-high 12 assists.

Devon Cottrell made 6-of-7 shots and 4-of-4 free throws en route to 16 points, while Blake Danielak made 3-of-6 3-pointers as part of his 15. Ayron Golver was a perfect 2-of-2 on 3-pointers to chip in with 14.
 
Jacobo Diaz registered a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
 
IUP quickly built a 10-2 lead just 2:55 into the contest and had its first double-digit lead, 22-12, with 12:06 left in the first half. That advantage reached 13, 38-25, with 4:30 to go and remained in double-digits until the 2:06 mark when Lee made two free throws. That was part of a 9-3 surge to end the half, which concluded on a Connolly layup 12 seconds before the buzzer to get KU within six, 39-45, for the first time since there was 8:09 remaining.