CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Following a two-week hiatus, the Kutztown University men's basketball team suffered its first defeat of the 2022 calendar year, falling to California (Pa.), Sunday evening in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover game, 81-64.
 
The Golden Bears (4-7 overall, 1-4 PSAC) featured three players in double-digits and three others that were one basket shy of the double-figure mark. For the first time this season Kyree Generett (York, Pa./William Penn) and Robert Tucker (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) led the team with 11 points, while Michael Smith III (Chester, Pa./Chester) finished with 10 to round out the trio in double-figures.
 
Wesley Butler (Reading, Pa./Reading) and Oenis Medina (Reading, Pa./Reading) tallied eight points and Jalen Bryant (Edgewood, Md./John Carroll) added seven for KU. Butler and Medina contributed seven rebounds, with Butler adding five assists and three steals. Channick Nkoma (Libreville, Gabon/Lycee National Leon M'ba) added six points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Kutztown fell behind 36-27 at halftime and could not climb back in the second half, getting outscored 45-37 in the final 20 minutes.
 
John Proctor (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) rounded out the scoring for KU with three points.
 
Kutztown faces its first test in the PSAC East Division in its next game on Wednesday, Jan. 5, against West Chester University at 7:30 p.m., from Keystone Arena.