BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Kutztown University men's basketball senior Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) led all scorers with 24 points, and classmate Rafiq Marshall (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz (Cheyney)) knocked down two consecutive 3-pointers to give KU its first lead and helped complete the comeback effort in taking down Bloomsburg University 76-71 Wednesday night in an important Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division showdown at Nelson Field House.
 
The Golden Bears (15-4 overall, 11-4 PSAC) trailed by as many as nine points midway through the second half, and then found themselves down 65-60 with 7:01 remaining.
 
In stepped two of KU's senior leaders.
 
Ridgeway scored four straight points, including two of his eight free-throws he had over the course of the game, then Marshall followed that up with a shot from distance to put KU up by two. When the Huskies (11-9, 7-9) tied the game at 67-all, Marshall once again hit a 3-pointer to give KU the lead for good at 70-67 with 1:54 left.
 
Bloomsburg would hang around for the final 1:54, but Ridgeway, Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) and Ricky Hicks (Coatesville, Pa./Polytech) combined to go 6-for-8 from the free-throw line to seal the victory.
 
Ridgeway finished with the game-high 24 points, and also dished out 11 assists, giving him 614 for his career, ranking sixth all-time in PSAC history. He also had three rebounds, and, along with Lee, played all 40 minutes for KU. Lee tallied 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. Lee has 1,279 career points, 12th in KU history.
 
Moe Williams (Townsend, Del./Life Center Academy) recorded 14 points and seven rebounds, including six of Kutztown's first eight points of the game that helped it stake an early lead in a first half that saw four ties and three lead changes before the teams headed to the locker rooms with Bloomsburg in front 37-36 at halftime.
 
Sophomore Max Wagner (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge), who finished with eight points and six rebounds, opened the scoring in the second half to put KU back ahead. After one of Williams's two dunks on the night gave KU a 40-39 advantage, Bloomsburg would go on a 15-5 run to take its biggest lead of the game of nine (54-45) with 12:47 to go.
 
Kutztown began to chip away its deficit, until Marshall connected from beyond the arc at the 4:08 mark to bring KU all the way back.
 
Ridgeway, Lee and Hicks came up clutch at the charity stripe when needed most. Overall as a team, Kutztown shot just 56.5 percent (13-of-23) at the free-throw line, a season-low.
 
Bloomsburg's Christian Mortellite (21 points) became the program's all-time leading scorer with a layup in the second half. The Golden Bears' defense, however, held Mortellite to just 5-of-17 shooting from the field, including 2-of-9 from 3-point land, after he shot 12-for-12 from the field and 6-of-6 from three in the Huskies' last game against West Chester University.

Hicks had two points and a career-high six rebounds. Oenis Medina (Reading, Pa./Reading (Shippensburg)) contributed two points and four rebounds.
 
With the win, Kutztown prevented wiped away a two-game losing streak on the road and prevented its first three-game skid away from Keystone Arena since the 2014-15 season.
 
The Golden Bears return home after two straight on the road, when they take on West Chester (16-4, 12-4) Saturday, Feb. 3 at 3 p.m. The Golden Rams are just ahead of KU in the PSAC East standings, sitting in second place by one-half game.