LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Four Kutztown University men's basketball players reached double-digits, led by junior Josh Townsend (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) and freshman Austin Laughlin (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) both with career-highs of 19 points, as KU hung on to a late surge by Lock Haven University and won a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division game 81-76 Wednesday night between teams with identical conference records.
 
The Golden Bears (12-9 overall, 6-7 PSAC) were in search of a victory, having lost two-in-a-row and three of their last four, and they took the initiative from the get-go, holding a lead for 90-percent of the game and never giving it up.
 
Townsend and Laughlin both set new career-highs in points. Townsend, who has logged more minutes due to the absence of an injured Moe Williams (Townsend, Del./Life Center Academy), has been playing his best basketball of his three-year career of late. He finished with 11 rebounds and two blocks to record his second straight double-double, third in the last four games and fourth in the last seven. He has come one rebound shy of three other double-double opportunities. Laughlin, who made the first start of his young career last Saturday against East Stroudsburg, one-upped himself by netting a new season-high after dropping 17 vs. the Warriors. He played a season-high 33 minutes at the Bald Eagles.
 
Kutztown leading scorer Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington), who entered the game third in Division II in scoring at 28.7 points per game, finished with 14 points. He was one rebound shy of a double-double, ending with nine boards and five assists in 37 minutes. The redshirt-senior extended his streak of consecutive games in double-figures to 50, but it wasn't easy. Lee did not reach the double-digit plateau until the 12:43 mark of the second half, as Lock Haven, like many other opposing teams, singled-out Lee in their defensive game-plan.
 
Facundo Arens (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Bahia Blanca) was the fourth Golden Bear in double-figures, dropping 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in a career-high 35 minutes of action. Kiyon Hardy (Philadelphia, Pa./The Shipley School), after missing the last game against ESU, contributed nine points, three rebounds and three assists, and Ricky Hicks (Coatesville, Pa./Polytech) added eight points, two rebounds and four assists for KU.
 
Kutztown scored the opening basket of the game off a layup by Townsend and recorded 10 of the game's first 13 points. Lock Haven would tie the game at 10-10 and take a 12-10 lead with 13:26 left in the first half, but Kyree Generett (York, Pa./William Penn) and Lee combined for five unanswered and the Maroon and Gold would not trail from the 11:17 mark of the first half and on.
 
KU led 46-41 at halftime and went up by as much as 18, 72-54, with 7:56 remaining after a 14-0 run within the first 5:15 of the second half to take control of the game.
 
The Maroon and Gold advantage remained in double-figures for the majority of the second half until the 3:55 mark when the Bald Eagles (7-10, 5-8) crept to within nine. Lock Haven found itself down just three twice in the final 1:14. And with the score at 79-76 in favor of KU, Lock Haven had a chance to tie, but missed its three-pointer and Laughlin sunk two free-throws with 0:02 left to seal the deal.
 
Kutztown returns home for its next two games beginning with a conference contest with Shippensburg this Saturday, Feb. 2, at 3 p.m.