MANSFIELD, Pa. – The Kutztown University men's basketball team has had a recent surge of late-game heroics in winning three of its last four games just before the buzzer. Wednesday night had a similar situation, but KU could not find that same magic and dropped a road game, 75-71, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division action at Mansfield.
 
The Golden Bears (7-11 overall, 4-8 PSAC) trailed 74-71 with 0:11 left, and unlike last week, their attempt with just a few seconds to go rimmed out and the Mounties (2-17, 1-11) were able to walk off their home court with their first conference victory.
 
Kutztown took its first lead in over eight minutes of action after a layup by Robert Tucker (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) gave his team a 71-70 advantage with 0:42 remaining. But Mansfield went right down the court five seconds later for a layup of their own to take the lead right back. Following a missed KU three-pointer, the Mounties hit two free-throws to take the three-point edge.
 
Tucker recorded his second double-double of the season and in the last three games, finishing with a career-high 18 points and career-best 13 rebounds. Three other Golden Bears scored in double-figures, including Evan-Eric Longino (Furlong, Pa./Germantown Academy) with a career-high 15 points, Jalen Bryant (Edgewood, Md./John Carroll) with 11 and Butler with 10.
 
The Maroon and Gold trailed 33-29 at halftime and saw themselves down by as many as nine (38-29) as the Mounties opened the second half scoring the first five points in the first 1:32. KU took its first lead of the half on a layup by Tucker at the 14:09 mark to go up 45-44. The teams traded baskets and leads until the final minute of action when Mansfield broke through.
 
Michael Smith III (Chester, Pa./Chester) had six points, five rebounds and tied a team-high with two steals. Ky'Aire Sumpter (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) totaled five points and two steals. Akeem Taylor Jr. (Chester, Pa./Chester), Channick Nkoma (Libreville, Gabon/Lycee National Leon M'ba) and Oenis Medina (Reading, Pa./Reading) all contributed two points.
 
Kutztown has the weekend off from competition and is back on the court in a makeup game against Millersville next Monday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m., at Keystone Arena.