WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team had a magical opening to its 2018-19 regular season, defeating the second-ranked team in Division II in host West Liberty Friday night. But it was on the other end of things Saturday evening, as West Virginia Wesleyan scored with just 0:02 on the clock to win the non-conference game 74-72 on the West Liberty arena floor.
 
It was a whirlwind of emotions the last 24 hours for the Golden Bears, who still leave the state of West Virginia at 1-1 with an important victory over a top-five team and perennial power in the Atlantic Region.
 
Less than 24 hours after netting a career-high 41 points, redshirt-senior Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) led the team once again with 21 points. He also added five assists, five rebounds and three steals.
 
Saturday, it was sophomore Facundo Arens (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Bahia Blanca) who had a career night, finishing with career-highs of 17 points and six rebounds, to go along with two steals. Moe Williams (Townsend, Del./Life Center Academy) also reached double-figures for the Maroon and Gold for the first time this season, recording 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
Arens opened the game with a layup to give KU the early lead, and the first half was mostly back-and-forth with the two teams trading leads. With the score tied 27-27 with 5:34 left in the first half, Kutztown went on a 16-7 run to go up by nine, 43-34, at halftime.
 
KU extended its lead in the second half to as much as 14 at 48-34, but the Bobcats were able to cut the deficit to just five at the 16:07 mark. The lead rose back to double-digits at 57-47 with 12:31 to go, but that was the biggest deficit for either team the rest of the game.
 
West Virginia Wesleyan would tie the score at 65-all with 3:28 to go and the teams would trade baskets for the next 3:18 until it was 72-72 and 0:10 left.
 
After Ricky Hicks' (Coatesville, Pa./Polytech) second free-throw tied the game at that score, the Bobcats drove the length of the court and got up a short jumper that fell. On the ensuing inbound, Kutztown may have been fouled, but it was not called.
 
Hicks contributed eight points and Kiyon Hardy (Philadelphia, Pa./The Shipley School) and Josh Townsend (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) both added six points. Hardy also grabbed nine rebounds, a new career-high. Freshman Austin Laughlin (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) scored his first collegiate points on a three-pointer.
 
West Virginia Wesleyan took down West Chester University the night prior.
 
Kutztown remains on the road for its next game, Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the University of the Sciences in another non-conference game.