KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Four Kutztown University men's basketball players landed in double-figures in scoring, but KU ran out of gas in a high-scoring 93-83 loss to East Stroudsburg University Saturday afternoon at Keystone Arena in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action.
 
It was a matchup of the second and third-ranked scoring offenses in the conference, and they did not disappoint putting the ball into the hoop.
 
The Golden Bears (11-9 overall, 5-7 PSAC) were led by Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington), who once again had an all-around game filling the stat sheet. The redshirt-senior just missed out on a triple-double, finishing with 23 points, a career-high eight assists and seven rebounds, while tying a career-high with five steals.
 
Josh Townsend (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) recorded his third double-double of the season and second in the last three games, ending with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Austin Laughlin (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) made his first career start in the backcourt for KU and showed his worth, tallying season-highs of 17 points and three rebounds. He was a sharp 7-of-9 from the floor and 3-for-5 from three-point land. Facundo Arens (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Bahia Blanca) rounded out the quartet with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
The Warriors (12-6, 9-3), the defending PSAC champions, have had the Maroon and Gold's number of late, winning the last four contests. They also had four players in double figures and connected on nine three-pointers compared to Kutztown's five. Both teams shot 50-percent from the floor going 33-for-66 in the 40-minute game.
 
Lee, who entered Saturday third in Division II in scoring at 29.0 points per game and second in the PSAC in three-point field goal percentage (44.7), finished 0-for-7 from long range, the first time he has not hit from downtown since Feb. 14, 2018. Lee still has a stretch of 49 straight games of scoring in double-figures dating back to the 2016-17 season.
 
With the score tied 20-20 midway through the first half, two straight three-pointers by ESU highlighted a 12-4 run that allowed it to take a lead for good. It then went on a 9-0 stretch later in the half which gave the Warriors their largest lead of 51-33. They went into halftime leading 51-38.
 
Kutztown would have an 8-0 run of its own within the first five minutes of the second half to get to within single digits, down 65-56 with 11:34 remaining, but East Stroudsburg proved its scoring prowess, scoring eight of the next 10 points and worked the clock to hold on for the victory.
 
Kyree Generett (York, Pa./William Penn) contributed seven points, two rebounds and an assist. Ricky Hicks (Coatesville, Pa./Polytech) added four points, three rebounds and two assists and Akello Mosby (Philadelphia, Pa./Carver) and David Johnson (Dunellen, N.J./Dunellen) each had two points to round out the scoring for KU.
 
Kutztown hits the road for another PSAC East game at Lock Haven on Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 7:30 p.m.