KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Freshman point guard Jalen Bryant (Edgewood, Md./John Carroll) did it again. For the second time in the last six days, Bryant stepped to the free-throw line with the game on the line. And once again, he delivered.
 
With the score tied 68-68 with 4.7 seconds remaining, the ball was put in the Edgewood, Md., native's hands, looking to create something. Shippensburg had just tied the game on a jumper by Jake Biss. Kutztown inbounded the ball to Bryant, who drove the length of the court and was fouled as he made an attempt at the basket. Bryant hit the first crucial free-throw, and it was all KU needed, holding off a late Raiders surge to win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Divisional game, 69-68, Monday night at Keystone Arena.
 
The Golden Bears (7-10 overall, 4-7 PSAC) have now won three out of their last four games, all three victories coming down to the wire. Bryant helped the Maroon and Gold leave Bloomsburg victorious last Wednesday, Jan. 19, when he connected on two free-throws with less than a second to go to give KU a 75-74 win. Two days prior, Kyree Generett (York, Pa./William Penn) made a game-winning layup as the buzzer sounded to defeat West Chester 94-92. Kutztown was three points from owning a four-game win streak, having dropped its home contest with Shepherd this past Saturday, Jan. 22, 65-63 in overtime.
 
The win Monday snaps a four-game skid against Shippensburg (12-5, 9-3), which entered sitting in first place in the division.
 
Bryant finished with a team-high 18 points, his sixth straight game and seventh out of his last eight, recording double-figures. He is averaging 17.5 points per game over his last six games. Wesley Butler (Reading, Pa./Reading) and Akeem Taylor Jr. (Chester, Pa./Chester) both tallied 15 points for the Golden Bears. Butler played 31 minutes in his first game back since Jan. 2.
 
Michael Smith III (Chester, Pa./Chester) hit a jumper 0:27 in to put KU ahead 2-0. The Raiders answered with a three-pointer by Biss and found themselves leading 9-7 3:07 into the game. But Smith and Taylor Jr. connected on back-to-back jumpers to give KU back the lead, and it would not trail the rest of the way.
 
Shippensburg erased a 17-point deficit, down 52-35 with 15:51 to go, to tie the game at 68-68 with 4.7 remaining.
 
Evan-Eric Longino (Furlong, Pa./Germantown Academy) had eight points and five rebounds. Oenis Medina (Reading, Pa./Reading) recorded six points and four rebounds. Smith III contributed four points and Channick Nkoma (Libreville, Gabon/Lycee National Leon M'ba) finished with three points and five boards.
 
Kutztown is at Mansfield in its next game on Wednesday, Jan. 26, with a 7:30 p.m., tipoff to conclude the week of competition.