EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team went over the century mark for the sixth time this season as Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's (PSAC) highest scoring team flew past Kutztown University 101-95 Saturday afternoon in a PSAC East Division matchup at Koehler Fieldhouse.
 
In a rivalry that is seemingly always close in margin of victory, this one did not disappoint either.
 
In a game of the top two scoring teams in the PSAC, the Warriors (12-4 overall, 9-3 PSAC) looked to push the tempo and wanted to play at a fast pace and keep the score high. That's exactly what happened.
 
The Golden Bears (13-3, 9-3) scored four of the game's first seven points off of two layups by sophomore Max Wagner (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) and senior Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) for a 4-3 edge just 1:03 in. But when Montrel Morgan answered on the other end with a layup of his own, ESU took the lead for good, and recorded 14 of the next 16 points to push its lead to 17-6 after the first media timeout at the 15:50 mark.
 
Kutztown never got closer than five points in the first half, and East Stroudsburg held its largest lead of the game at 20 (51-31) with 3:22 left in the first half. Ridgeway closed out the half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and KU went to the locker room down 57-47.
 
For the first ten minutes of the second half, the Maroon and Gold could not cut into their deficit any lower than eight points until redshirt-junior Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington), who was plagued with foul trouble early and only played eight first-half minutes, connected from distance on a three as his team found themselves down just six (75-69) with 10:40 remaining. They got as close as four twice, but each time they got to within two baskets, the Warriors answered with a mini run to cushion themselves.
 
East Stroudsburg came in leading the PSAC in scoring, averaging 93.3 points per game, followed just behind by Kutztown at 87.6. The two teams combined for the highest point total in the series history over at least the last 10 years. ESU has won nine of the last 12 games in the series, including five of the last six at Koehler Fieldhouse.
 
Ridgeway led the way with a game-high 32 points, the second highest of his career, in 40 minutes of action. He came in leading the NCAA Division II in assists per game at 8.2, and finished Saturday with six, pushing his career total to 593, ranking him seventh all-time in PSAC history.
 
Lee tallied 21 points, including 2-of-6 from the 3-point line. He is first in Division II, shooting 54.9 percent from long distance. Wagner and Williams both contributed 14 points, tying a career-high for Williams, who also topped a career-high with 16 rebounds in 34 minutes.
 
Senior Rafiq Marshall (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz (Cheyney)) and freshman Facundo Arens (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Bahia Blanca) each had four points and three rebounds apiece, with Marshall dishing out four assists to Arens' three. Freshman Kiyon Hardy (Philadelphia, Pa./The Shipley School) had three points, and sophomore Josh Townsend (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) tallied two points and nine rebounds.
 
Kutztown and East Stroudsburg are now tied for third place in the PSAC East, one-half game behind second place Shippensburg University, and one-and-a-half games behind West Chester University, who lost to the Red Raiders on Saturday.
 
Kutztown returns home to take on Lock Haven University Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Keystone Arena.