Williams Interview

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Redshirt-sophomore Moe Williams (Townsend, Del./Life Center Academy) of the Kutztown University men's basketball team had himself a night. He tallied career-highs in points (26) and rebounds (20) in leading KU to a 100-86 non-conference win Saturday evening over Wilmington University (Del.) at Keystone Arena.
 
Williams became just the second player in program history to record a 20-and-20 game, and his 20 rebounds is the most in a single game since 1965. He was also just one assist shy of his career-high, finishing with four.
 
"First it's a big part because of my teammates," said Williams. "They all played defense and shared the ball well tonight. After that, it's just about attacking the basket. I know I'm athletic so I just try to get to the hoop and on defense get good position every shot. I was just happy to be able to help us get a win."
 
With the help of Williams and his fellow 20-point scoring teammates in Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) (26) and Ricky Hicks (Coatesville, Pa./Polytech) (21), the Golden Bears offense ending the night shooting 66.7-percent from the floor overall, which ranks as the second-best shooting-percentage in a game in KU history. At one point, midway through the second half, Kutztown was shooting at a 70-percent clip, which would've beaten the record of 68-percent.
 
The Maroon and Gold (6-4 overall) had not played in a week and were able to bounce back from a defeat at Pitt-Johnstown in their last game last Saturday, Dec. 8.
 
"We knew since we were coming off of a loss at UPJ, we wanted to get back on track and come away with a W," said Williams. "Coach Bilal [Salaam] said something to me and the team before the game to kind of get us going, so that helped us get motivated."
 
Lee, who entered Saturday ranked second in Division II in points per game at 28.7, finished tied with Williams with a game-high 26. He also had six rebounds and seven assists, and now averages 28.4 ppg. Hicks finished with career-highs in points (21) and assists (9), finishing one assist shy of his first double-double in his career.
 
Facundo Arens (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Bahia Blanca) netted 13 points, 11 of which were in the first half, to round out a group of four players in double-figures. Freshman Da'Quan Granberry (Linwood, Pa./Chichester) added nine points and a steal for KU.
 
The first half saw four lead changes and four ties and the biggest lead was seven by the Wildcats (4-5 overall). Kutztown trailed 48-45 heading to halftime.
 
After a layup by Hicks 0:14 in to the second half, a Lee three-pointer gave KU its first lead (50-48) since it was ahead 28-26 at the 8:01 mark of the first half. There would be four ties and two lead changes before a 12-2 run by Kutztown that began with 5:28 left gave it a comfortable 91-79 lead with 3:12 to go.
 
Kiyon Hardy (Philadelphia, Pa./The Shipley School) added three points, four rebounds and two assists and Austin Laughlin (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) contributed two points and one rebound for KU.
 
Kutztown heads west for two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) games next week. KU takes on Mercyhurst on Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 3 p.m., followed by Gannon at 7:30 p.m. that Wednesday.