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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Four nights after falling just short in its comeback efforts against West Chester University, the Kutztown University men's basketball team had to again fight back and climb out of a late hole. But this time, it was on the winning end, taking down Bloomsburg University 97-92 Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action at Keystone Arena.
 
The Golden Bears (9-2 overall, 5-2 PSAC) trailed by as many as eight points (86-78) with under 5:00 remaining, but they ended the game on a 19-6 run in the final 4:18 of the game to defeat the pesky Huskies (6-5, 2-5).
 
Redshirt-junior Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) led the way, tying a career-high with 34 points. It is the third time this season that Lee has poured in 34 in a game, with the last one coming last Saturday, Dec. 30 against the Golden Rams. He also tied a career-high with six assists, and grabbed seven rebounds on 12-of-23 shooting from the field, including 5-of-10 from 3-point land and a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line.
 
Lee and sophomore Max Wagner (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) were key catalysts in this one.
 
When Bloomsburg led 29-24 midway through the first half, the duo combined to score 16 of their team's 20 points in a 20-6 spurt that helped KU hold a nine-point lead, 51-42 at halftime.
 
Wagner ended one point shy of his career-high, recording 14 points and totaling five rebounds. He also had two blocks and two steals.
 
Coming out of the locker rooms at halftime, the Huskies found some energy. They scored 11 of the first 15 points in the second half, fueled by the hot-shooting of the school's third all-time leading scorer Christian Mortellite (24 points) and fellow senior Kyle-Michael Rose (21 points).
 
KU lost its lead on a layup by Austin Harriott to make the score 61-59, and then the two teams traded baskets until it was 71-71 with 8:20 to go. The Huskies would score the next six points, and hold their largest lead at 86-78 with 4:30 left.
 
But Bloomsburg has had nightmares playing at Keystone Arena of late, losing its last 15 games at Kutztown dating back to Jan. 23, 2002, so not finishing may have been in the back of the team's mind.
 
And Kutztown made its run, thanks in large part to eight points from Lee and five by Wagner to propel a 19-6 spurt over the final 4:18.
 
Senior Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) and junior Dan Cuevas (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) both finished in double-figures with 10 and 11 points respectively. Ridgeway added five assists and Cuevas had four rebounds.
 
Moe Williams (Townsend, Del./Life Center Academy) tallied nine points, five assists and four rebounds. Rafiq Marshall (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz (Cheyney)) added eight points, two assists and three rebounds, and Josh Townsend (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) had seven points on 3-of-3 shooting, and added three rebounds.
 
Kutztown heads to Edinboro University for its next game on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 3 p.m.