KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- The Kutztown University men's basketball team built a double-digit lead just over 11 minutes into Saturday night's PSAC game against Seton Hill and never looked back, defeating the Griffins 67-53 at Keystone Arena to earn their first conference win of the season.
Having battled a top 10 nationally-ranked team in IUP the night before, the Golden Bears carried some of the positives into their matchup with the Griffins.
Channick Nkoma (Libreville, Gabon/Lycee National Leon M'ba), one of three Kutztown (3-4 overall, 1-1 PSAC) players in double figures, had seven of his team's first 16 points and the hosts were quickly off and running.
Junior guard
Wesley Butler (Reading, Pa./Reading) led the way with a game-high 21 points. Nkoma finished with 13 and
Evan-Eric Longino (Furlong, Pa./Germantown Academy) had 11.
The Bears came out strong to start the game, leading 20-11 midway through the first half. Kutztown went in front by double digits shortly thereafter on a
Jalen Bryant (Edgewood, Md./John Carroll) layup and continued to pull away in the latter stages of the half, stretching their lead to 20 at one point, before taking a 38-20 advantage into halftime.
Longino sank a jumper to begin the second half and restored KU's 20-point lead, but Seton Hill wouldn't roll over, responding with a 10-0 run in the first three minutes to cut the lead in half. The Griffins continued to slowly chip away at Kutztown's lead and were back within four points, 50-46, with 7:08 to go. That would be as close as Seton Hill would get, as the Golden Bears stretched the lead back to nine on the strength of a Butler jumper and Nkoma layup. Eventually, the Bears came out with the 14-point victory.
Kutztown played majority of the game without starter and leader
Moe Williams (Townsend, Del./Life Center Academy (N.J.)), who was injured late in the first half.
Akeem Taylor Jr. (Chester, Pa./Chester) finished the game with five points and one steal for the Golden Bears. Bryant and
Akello Mosby (Philadelphia, Pa./Carver) each recorded four points, while
Michael Smith III (Chester, Pa./Chester) dished out six assists to go along with two points and three rebounds.
Nkoma grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Butler and Longino had six apiece. Kutztown shot 42.3% overall (22-of-52), while holding the Griffins to 32.7% (18-of-55). Drew Green and Samuel Tabe paced Seton Hill with 11 points. Aaron Celcis added a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards for the visitors.
Kutztown will look to make it two straight victories when they host Bowie State on Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m.
