KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown men's basketball ended its 2022-23 season on a grand note, honoring its four senior student-athletes with a victory over Shepherd Saturday afternoon in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference regular season finale at Keystone Arena.
The Golden Bears (11-17 overall, 10-12 PSAC) won for the sixth straight time, winning their last six games of the season.
Prior to the game, head coach
Bernie Driscoll and his staff recognized four senior student-athletes for their hard work and dedication on and off the court.
Wesley Butler (Reading, Pa./Reading),
Kyree Generett (York, Pa./William Penn),
Josh Samec (Tresckow, Pa./Hazleton) and
Robert Tucker (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) received framed jerseys and were honored prior to playing in their final game in Maroon and Gold.
Three of the four Golden Bears finished with double figures in scoring, and the fourth was near. Generett recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while dishing out four assists. Tucker tallied 13 points and six boards. Butler had 10 points and four rebounds. Samec netted six points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
The KU offense was led by
Jalen Bryant (Edgewood, Md./John Carroll), the reigning PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week, who scored a team-high 19 points and added three rebounds.
Kutztown trailed for the entire first half and was down 36-34 at halftime. Down 44-42 with 15:19 left to play, Generett finished an old-fashioned three-point play to give his team their first lead of the game at 45-44 and 15:07 to go. From that point, there were four lead changes and four ties over the course of the next 10:26 before the Maroon and Gold went up for good on a layup in the pain by Tucker at 67-65 and 4:17 remaining.
The Rams (14-14, 11-11) pulled to within one at 69-68 with 3:19 to go, but the KU defense held firm and Generett and Bryant combined to go 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to seal the victory.
Kutztown finishes the 2022-23 regular season with the most conference wins since the 2017-18 season.
