EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – For the second time in the last five days, the Kutztown University and East Stroudsburg University men's basketball teams met on the court. Similarly to the first meeting, the Warriors got the better of the Golden Bears, winning the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Divisional game 89-73 Monday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.
In a makeup of a postponed originally scheduled game, Kutztown (7-15 overall, 4-12 PSAC) was playing its fourth game in a span of a week, and tired legs showed for KU. All five starters played at least 26 minutes and four of them logged 31 minutes or more in the contest. With the fast-paced style that the Warriors (14-7, 12-5) utilize, a lack of a strong rotation can prove costly.
Julian Boykins (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) made a layup with 4:09 left in the first half as KU found itself trailing by just one point, 30-29. But East Stroudsburg finished the half on a 12-2 run to go into the locker room at halftime leading 42-31.
It was more of the same in the opening 2:19 of the second half as the Warriors spiked their lead to 16 points, 49-33, with 17:41 to go. But the Maroon and Gold showed life in a 10-0 run over the next 2:34 capped by a three-pointer from
Evan-Eric Longino (Furlong, Pa./Germantown Academy), one of a game-high four on the night for the graduate student. Kutztown, however, never got closer as East Stroudsburg dialed in defensively as KU went 7-for-24 from the floor the last 15:07.
Four Golden Bears finished in double figures scoring, including a team-high 16 points by
Wesley Butler (Reading, Pa./Reading). The junior guard also had four assists and a career-high five steals. Longino tallied 14 points and five rebounds and both
Michael Smith III (Chester, Pa./Chester) and
Robert Tucker (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) recorded 11 points, the latter also grabbing five boards.
Channick Nkoma (Libreville, Gabon/Lycee National Leon M'ba) had nine points and five rebounds and
Jalen Bryant (Edgewood, Md./John Carroll) contributed eight points, four rebounds and four steals for KU.
In just two days, Kutztown will be at Millersville for its next game, Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m.
