KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Amir Cunningham (Middletown, Del./Middletown) poured in a season-high 20 points for the Kutztown men's basketball team Saturday afternoon, but visiting Pitt-Johnstown overcame a seven-point halftime deficit with a 56-point second half in sending the Golden Bears to an 84-63 defeat in a PSAC crossover game at Keystone Arena.
Looking to break a nine-game slide, the Bears turned to Cunningham, a 6-foot-6 freshman forward from Middletown, Del., for a lift. He responded in kind, knocking down all three of his field goal attempts and making 5-of-6 free throws on his way to 12 first-half points.
Kutztown (1-10, 0-5 PSAC) fell behind 6-0 less than four minutes in and trailed 19-12 following a Gavin Headings layup with 9:08 remaining in the opening half. A
Ryan Glassmacher (Stewartsville, N.J./Bethlehem Catholic (Pa.)) 3-pointer kicked off a 23-5 run over the next 7:47 for the Maroon and Gold, which saw them jump in front 35-24 for their largest lead of the day.
Cunningham paved the way with 10 points during the run, while high school teammate and classmate
Jaiden McGhee (Townsend, Del./Middletown) added four. Kutztown took a lead to the half for just the third time this season, 35-28.
The Golden Bears were able to withstand Pitt-Johnstown's (4-7, 2-3 PSAC) advances until midway through the second half. After not hitting a 3-pointer in the first half, the Mountain Cats got back-to-back triples from Andy Zuchelli and Andrew Shull to twice pull even, first at 46, then at 49 with 12:53 to go.
Shull's 3-pointer started a 14-0 run for the visitors that had KU staring at an 11-point disadvantage, 60-49, with 10:09 left.
Pitt-Johnstown outscored the Golden Bears 38-14 over the final 12:53 by hitting 14 of its last 20 shots. Shull and Nick Watts each contributed 12 points to the surge, adding to a balanced scoring effort by the visitors.
Watts finished with a team-high 16 points off the bench on 7-of-7 shooting, with Shull and Headings adding 15 apiece. Ryan Smith and Will Kromka had 10 each to give UPJ four starters in double figures, and Vinnie Cugini scored 11 points to put six Mountain Cats in double figures overall.
Headings (15 points, game-high 16 rebounds) and Cugini (11 points, 10 rebounds) registered double-doubles for UPJ.
Kutztown just couldn't provide the same firepower to keep pace. After both teams shot 40% in the first half, UPJ was a blistering 21-of-31 (67.7%) in the second. The Golden Bears fell off to 32.4%, making just 11 of their 34 attempts after the break. Neither team found success from deep, with UPJ going 3-of-14 and KU 5-of-23.
A commanding 34-16 advantage in the paint was critical to UPJ outscoring Kutztown 56-28 in the half.
Cunningham concluded the best game of his young career 6-of-7 from the floor (2-of-2 3FG) and 6-of-7 at the charity stripe. He added four rebounds, four assists and a block. McGhee posted his second double-double in three games with 14 points and 11 boards, and
Brent Ricketts Jr. (Seaford, Del./Seaford) had 10 points.
Brendan Boyle (Allentown, Pa./Notre Dame) led all players with eight assists.
Kutztown will look to reverse its fortunes as the calendar turns to 2024. The Golden Bears travel to Slippery Rock for another PSAC crossover matchup this coming Wednesday, Jan. 3, at 7:30 p.m.
