KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown University men's basketball had a tough day offensively, finishing with a season-low in points and shooting percentage and dropped its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division opener against West Chester Saturday afternoon, 72-57 at Keystone Arena.
The Golden Bears (4-8 overall, 4-3 PSAC) trailed by 10 points at halftime (36-26) and found themselves behind by as many as 13 (44-31) just 3:49 into the second half, but fought back and pulled to within just four points (46-42) with 11:30 left to play. It was the closest they had been since a 20-17 deficit with 8:06 to go in the first half.
The Golden Rams (9-4, 4-3) then scored seven points in-a-row in the next 2:10 to go back on top by double figures and stayed there the rest of the way, finishing the last 9:20 outscoring KU 19-15.
Kutztown had two different leads of 11-10 and 13-12 early in the opening half, but West Chester led for the majority of this one.
Kyree Generett (York, Pa./William Penn) led KU with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including going 2-for-2 at the free-throw line. He added two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Jalen Bryant (Edgewood, Md./John Carroll) also recorded double figures in scoring with 11, dishing out two assists as well.
Kyle Whippen (Arlington,Va./Westfield) was 3-for-3 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe for nine points, while grabbing six rebounds.
Wesley Butler (Reading, Pa./Reading) totaled eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Maroon and Gold shot a season-low 36.8% (21-of-57) from the floor, whereas West Chester shot 43.9% (29-for-66) overall.
Kutztown hits the road for its second divisional game as it takes on Millersville on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 7:30 p.m.
