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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team returns to action after a 12-day break for the holidays and jumps right into its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division slate with a home matchup against East Stroudsburg University on Friday, Jan. 3, at 7:30 p.m., at Keystone Arena.
 
KU and ESU will be teaming up in support of Warrior sophomore Ryan Smith and his fight against acute myeloid leukemia. Smith played his freshman season with the Warriors and was named PSAC East Freshman of the Year before being diagnosed in August. In lieu of admission fans can make donations to help support Smith's fight. Checks can be made out to ESU, in the subject line write Ryan Smith or Ryan Smith fundraiser. All funds can be sent to ESU Athletics c/o Katrin Wolfe or Jeff Wilson. They will deposit the funds and will send a receipt of deposit for record keeping.
 
The Golden Bears (5-6 overall, 3-2 PSAC) split their final two games of 2019, defeating Slippery Rock 94-84 on Dec. 20, and then fell 88-86 to Edinboro in overtime the following night. They have won three of their last five games heading into the new calendar year.
 
KU currently sits in a tie for third place in the East with the Warriors (7-3, 3-2), one game behind second-place Shippensburg (8-3, 4-1) and two behind West Chester (11-0, 5-0).
 
Kutztown's offense has been scoring at a high clip thus far this season. It ranks second in the PSAC at 85.9 points per game. KU is shooting 39.8-percent from long distance and 75.9-percent from the free-throw line, both good for fourth in the league. The Maroon and Gold will once again need to be at their best offensively as ESU's defense enters giving up just 66.8 ppg, second-best in the conference.
 
Freshman Wesley Butler (Reading, Pa./Reading) ranks in the top-10 in the PSAC in scoring at 18.1 ppg, second-highest amongst first-year players. He is also fourth-highest in the league in three-point shooting with a 46.9-percent clip. Butler made a KU freshman-record seven three-pointers in the season-opening win over Lincoln on Nov. 8. He has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season.
 
Also in his first season in Maroon and Gold, Tarojae Brake (Coatesville, Pa./Octorara) is averaging 15.6 ppg and 3.4 rebounds per game. He leads the team with 13 steals. Senior Josh Townsend (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) is tied for fifth in the PSAC in rebounding with 8.3 rpg, while also scoring 8.9 ppg and leading KU with eight blocks. Senior Ryan 'Boz' Bernstein (Bronx, N.Y./Marianapolis Prep) is averaging 9.2 ppg and 4.5 assists per game, fifth-best in the conference. He also leads the conference with a 4.1 assist-to-turnover ratio and is sixth with an 85.4-percent clip from the free-throw line.
 
Sophomore Kyree Generett (York, Pa./William Penn) has been a spark off the bench, averaging 9.0 ppg, and shooting 87.2-percent from the charity stripe, fourth in the PSAC. Junior Facundo Arens (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Bahia Blanca) is doing a little bit of everything, averaging 7.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 2.4 apg. Sophomore Akello Mosby (Philadelphia, Pa./Carver) has recorded career-highs of 5.2 ppg and 4.9 rpg.
 
Live stats and video is available via the links above, or by visiting www.kubears.com.