MANSFIELD, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team cleaned the glass, outrebounding Mansfield University 44-32, and were able to hold onto a double-digit second half lead that was cut to just five with 4:53 left, in taking down Mansfield 77-71 Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action at Decker Gymnasium.
 
After a week off since their last game, the Golden Bears (16-5 overall, 12-5 PSAC) wasted little time jumping out to a fast start, holding a 10-point lead, 44-34, at halftime. Senior Rafiq Marshall (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz (Cheyney)) and redshirt-junior Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) were on fire from the field early on, combining for 25 of the 44 first half points for KU. Lee scored 13 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and Marshall had 12 on 4-of-6 shooting. Lee finished with 20 points and three steals, and Marshall ended his day with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists.
 
Even if those two shooters, or senior Ethan Ridgeway (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin), who tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists missed from the floor, the Golden Bears would seemingly always be there to clean up on offense or stop a Mountaineers (6-16, 5-14) scoring opportunity on the defensive side of the ball.
 
KU held a 44-32 rebounding margin, led by a season-high effort from redshirt-freshman Moe Williams (Townsend, Del./Life Center Academy), who brought in 18 rebounds. Ridgeway's seven boards was followed closely by six from Max Wagner (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) and four by Oenis Medina (Reading, Pa./Reading (Shippensburg)) and Marshall. Kutztown came into the game averaging 38 rebounds per game, and the 44 overall rebounds are tied for fourth best this season as a team.
 
Williams finished one point shy of a double-double with nine points in a season-high 38 minutes of action. Wagner also had nine points to go along with his six rebounds and one block. Medina tallied four points, Ricky Hicks (Coatesville, Pa./Polytech) and Facundo Arens (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Bahia Blanca) each contributed two points and freshman Kiyon Hardy (Philadelphia, Pa./The Shipley School) had one point on 1-of-2 shooting at the free-throw line to round up nine different KU players that hit the score column.
 
Kutztown extended its halftime lead of 10 points to as much as 14 with 14:19 left to play. Both teams went on mini-runs, but Mansfield never got closer than five points, which it did twice in the final 10:00. With 4:53 remaining, Kutztown led 67-62, and only four points were scored in the next 2:43, all by KU. The Golden Bears went 7-of-9 from the free-throw line in the final 0:46 to seal the victory. Kutztown went 21-for-28 (75.0%) from the charity stripe on the game.
 
KU returns to action Monday, Feb. 12 when it hosts Shippensburg University at 7:30 p.m. at Keystone Arena.