EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The fifth-seeded Kutztown University men's basketball team had it rolling for nearly 30 minutes, trading blows with top seed East Stroudsburg University and its fast pace. But an ESU 10-0 run after the score was tied at 63-63 midway through the second half was too much for KU to overcome as it dropped a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Quarterfinal Round game 92-79 Wednesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.
 
The Golden Bears season comes to an end at 16-14 overall, the fifth straight season of at least 16 wins and sixth consecutive season it made the postseason. KU has advanced to at least the quarterfinals each of the last five years.
 
Redshirt-senior Anthony Lee (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington), along with classmates Ricky Hicks (Coatesville, Pa./Polytech) and David Johnson (Dunellen, N.J./Dunellen), played in their final game in Maroon and Gold. And Lee made it a memorable one to go out on.
 
Lee recorded his first career triple-double and the first one for Kutztown since Stephen Dennis back on Dec. 2, 2009. He finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists, and also added two blocks and one steal and never left the court, playing in 40 minutes.
 
The Willow Grove native will go down as one of the best men's players in program history. He had a decorated career, and did it in several statistical categories, showing the epitome of a 'team-player.' Lee finished his time in Maroon and Gold second all-time and fourth in PSAC history in career points (2,292), first in three-pointers made (275), second in field goals made (773), third in steals (200) and free-throws (471), eighth in rebounds (656) and blocks (102) and ninth in assists (324).
 
Lee ended the 2018-19 campaign scoring 822 points, the most by a player in a single season in program history. Wednesday also marked his 59th straight game reaching double-figures in points.
 
Freshman Austin Laughlin (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) also shined bright on the big stage, getting the nod and making his second straight postseason start. He led Kutztown with a season-high 24 points and was unconscious for most of the night, shooting 69-percent (9-for-13) from the floor, 50-percent (4-of-8) from three-point land. He also added two rebounds and two assists playing in a season-high 35 minutes to spark the Golden Bears.
 
Josh Townsend (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter), who saw a streak of three straight double-doubles and five-in-six games end Wednesday, still held his own and contributed 14 points and six rebounds with one block and one steal.
 
That duo of Laughlin and Townsend carried the Kutztown offense over the course of the first 7:50 of the game, combining for the team's first 16 points. Laughlin had nine points, making his first three three-pointers, and Townsend was also 3-for-3 from the field for seven points as the first half saw two ties and 11 lead changes.
 
Tied 38-38, the Maroon and Gold scored eight of the next nine points to go up by seven with 1:19 left until halftime, but the Warriors (21-6) cut KU's lead to 46-44 heading into the locker rooms.
 
The game remained back-and-forth through the first nine-plus minutes of the second half as the teams saw one lead change and five ties through the opening 8:22. But with the score tied 63-63 and 11:38 left to play, East Stroudsburg went on a 10-0 run to take the game's biggest lead, 73-63, with 7:38 to go.
 
No matter how much the Kutztown offense answered, the Warriors were able to hold at least a seven-point lead the rest of the way. They were able to put the game away at the free-throw line, a place where they seemed to live at in the second half. East Stroudsburg held a 37-15 advantage in free-throw attempts over the course of the game and a 23-6 edge alone in the second half.
 
Freshman Da'Quan Granberry (Linwood, Pa./Chichester) recorded eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and added two rebounds. Classmate Kyree Generett (York, Pa./William Penn) contributed six points and two rebounds, hitting two of his three three's. Kiyon Hardy (Philadelphia, Pa./The Shipley School) had two points, two rebounds and one assist. Facundo Arens (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Bahia Blanca) finished with four points and two assists.
 
Hicks was held scoreless for just the first time this season. The Coatesville native started in 28-of-30 games this season and ended his career with 436 points, 177 assists, 161 rebounds and 52 steals. He finished the season ninth in the PSAC with a 1.6 assist-to-turnover-ratio.
 
Johnson, who was unable to play Wednesday, played in a career-high 26 games, making two starts this season. He, along with Lee and Moe Williams (Townsend, Del./Life Center Academy), were team captains.
 
Kutztown will return three starters from its postseason run and are hopeful Williams, another potential starter, can return to full health to be a major contributor once again next season.