EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team went deep into the night, playing its third game past regulation and first double-overtime game of the season, falling just short, 92-90 at East Stroudsburg University Wednesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division action.
 
The Golden Bears (10-13 overall, 8-9 PSAC) held with the two-time defending East Division champion Warriors (15-8, 11-7) for the entirety of the 50-minute contest, which was the longest game played by five of the nine Golden Bears that reached the floor Wednesday.
 
Freshman Wesley Butler (Reading, Pa./Reading) led all scorers with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting and redshirt-junior Tarojae Brake (Coatesville, Pa./Octorara) added 20 points, going 8-for-16 from the floor, claiming the only players to record 20 or more points in the game.
 
Sean Griffin (Abington, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian Academy) continues to play better and improve each game. The junior totaled career-highs in points (13) and blocks (2), while tying career-bests in rebounds (9) and steals (2) in a new career-high 37 minutes of action. Five total Kutztown players played career-high minutes Wednesday. Sophomore Kyree Generett (York, Pa./William Penn) finished with 13 points and five rebounds as the fourth KU player to record double-figures in points.
 
Kutztown currently sits in fifth place in the East standings, but just one-half game behind Millersville for fourth place, and one game behind West Chester, a team its has beaten already this season, for third place.
 
Butler's jumper opened the game with a 2-0 lead by the Maroon and Gold and then there would be three ties and two lead changes over the next 8:47 until the game was tied at 18-18 and 10:24 to go until halftime. East Stroudsburg then outscored KU 24-15 over the final stretch to take a 42-33 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.
 
The Warriors led by as many as nine points (52-43) with 13:11 remaining in the game, but the Maroon and Gold scored the next eight points and found themselves down just 52-51 and 11:54 on the clock. Freshman Michael Smith III (Chester, Pa./Chester) connected on a shot from long range to give Kutztown its first lead since the 6:36 mark into the first half.
 
There would be four ties and two lead changes the rest of the way. With the score at 72-68 in favor of KU after a Brake 3-pointer, East Stroudsburg's Carlos Pepin connected on back-to-back baskets in two straight possessions to tie the score at 72-72 with 0:32 to go. Each team missed an opportunity at the winning basket as the game went into free basketball.
 
The first overtime period saw each team hold as high of a lead as three, with the latter being Kutztown when it led 81-78 with 0:16 to go after two Butler free-throws. Once again it was Pepin that caused KU fits as he came up with an offensive rebound following a missed shot and then kicked it out to Montrel Morgan for the game-tying 3-pointer with just 0:05 left to force another overtime.
 
East Stroudsburg opened the second overtime on a 5-0 run to go up 86-81 1:00 in. Kutztown scored four straight to make it 86-85 and then after a back-and-forth two-plus minutes, a layup by Ryan 'Boz' Bernstein (Bronx, N.Y./Marianapolis Prep) tied the score at 90-90 with 0:47 left.
 
The Warriors converted on a layup on their ensuing possession and the Golden Bears could not as ESU held on for the victory.
 
The gritty, graduate transfer point guard, Bernstein, tallied eight points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals in 42 minutes. Smith III recorded five points and two assists, and both Josh Townsend (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) and Facundo Arens (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Bahia Blanca) contributed four points for KU.
 
After a two-game road trip, Kutztown will return home to host Shepherd University this Saturday, Feb. 15, at 3 p.m. at Keystone Arena for its Pink Zone game.