SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – Wesley Butler (Reading, Pa./Reading) scored a team-high 18 points, but Shepherd extended a six-point halftime lead to 14 midway through the second half and held off a late push from the Kutztown University men's basketball team to complete a regular season sweep of the Golden Bears, 68-60, in PSAC East action Saturday afternoon.
Both teams desperately needed a victory to aid their postseason hopes and Kutztown appeared ready to take the fight to the Rams in the early going. Butler and
Evan-Eric Longino (Furlong, Pa./Germantown Academy) hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a quick 6-0 lead.
Though Shepherd responded with eight straight, Butler stemmed the tide by scoring five in a row on another trey and layup.
Tied at 13 with 8:41 left in the opening half following a successful jumper from the Reading native, Shepherd outscored KU (7-17, 4-14 PSAC) 13-9 the rest of the way to take a slim 26-22 lead to the locker room.
The Rams (10-12, 6-10 PSAC) and Bears traded baskets to start the second half. Longino hit a 10-foot step-back from the right edge of the lane that made it 34-28 Shepherd with 16:35 remaining, but Kutztown wouldn't score again for almost five minutes.
Cam Stephens popped in four points, while Kyle Daggett and Jon Preston each had a bucket as the hosts ripped off eight unanswered to take a 14-point lead, 42-28, approaching the under 12-minute media timeout.
Kutztown still trailed by double digits, 48-38, at the under eight break, but continued to slowly chip away at Shepherd's advantage. With less than three minutes to play, Butler came up with a steal and fed
Akeem Taylor Jr. (Chester, Pa./Chester), who split two defenders and finished at the rim to make it a one-possession game, 54-51.
Preston answered at the other end, however, converting a traditional 3-point play to push the Rams' lead back to six and the Bears got no closer than four the rest of the way.
Kutztown and Shepherd each finished 23-of-51 from the floor (45.1%), but the Rams connected on five more 3-pointers (10-of-24) than the Maroon and Gold (5-of-16). Though KU was +2 in the turnover department (15-13), Shepherd cleaned up on the glass, 34-25. Three Rams had at least six boards, led by Preston's game-high nine.
Butler and Longino (15 points) were the only Bears scoring in double figures. Butler was 4-of-6 from downtown and produced a game-high four steals.
Jalen Bryant (Edgewood, Md./John Carroll) added eight points and
Channick Nkoma (Libreville, Gabon/Lycee National Leon M'ba) paired five points with a team-high seven boards.
Daggett led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and grabbed six boards. Stephens followed with 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Preston had 13 points.
Shepherd solidified its postseason standing with the season sweep of KU and remains a half game up on Lock Haven for fifth in the Eastern Division. The Bears' hopes took a further hit when Lock Haven knocked off Shippensburg, 79-67, Saturday, moving the Bald Eagles 2.5 games clear of KU for the final playoff spot. Both Lock Haven and Shepherd hold tiebreakers over the Bears.
With four games remaining in the regular season, Kutztown will likely need to win out and get some help. The Golden Bears are on the road Wednesday to face West Chester at 7:30 p.m.
