KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- After being down by eight with under four minutes to go, the Kutztown University men's basketball team (4-21, 3-16 PSAC) used a 14-5 run to complete a thrilling 75-72 comeback victory over Bloomsburg (5-19, 3-15 PSAC) Saturday afternoon at Keystone Arena.
Jaiden McGhee (Townsend, Del./Middletown) and Brent Ricketts Jr. (Seaford, Del./Seaford) led the offensive charge in the contest, both netting 22 points and five rebounds in the win. Amir Cunningham (Middletown, Del./Middletown) returned to his double-double ways, netting 10 points while grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. Juju Pagan (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) ended with seven and a team-high seven assists. Yahmir Satterfield (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) ended with six points, all of which came from two threes in crunch time.
It was a back-and-forth first 20 minutes at Keystone Arena with both teams trading basket after basket. The Huskies started the scoring, but KU took its first lead of the game thanks to a three from Pagan with 10:37 till the half. Bloomsburg responded, opening as much as a 10-point lead with 4:21 left. Back-to-back threes from Kameron Roberts (Townsend, Del./Middletown) made it 36-33 with 1:16 till the half, but the Huskies scored four more points in the last minute to enter the break up 40-33.
The same trend continued throughout the second half, as the Huskies looked destined for victory with an eight-point lead with 3:59 remaining in the game. A technical foul call on Louie Wild sent Ricketts Jr. to the line to cut the deficit to six. Then on the same possession, Satterfield drilled a three to make the lead just three with 3:40 left. After another Bloomsburg miss, Ricketts Jr. got his own miss on the other end and put it back up to make it 69-68.
Jagger Dressler broke the momentum with a three for Bloomsburg, but Satterfield drained another long ball in response to get it a one-point game with 2:23 left. After misses by both teams, it was McGhee's turn to drain a three to give KU the 74-72 lead with 52 seconds remaining. The Huskies turned the ball over on the ensuing possession as Pagan made one of two shots from the line to make it 75-72. Bloomsburg had two looks to tie as the time ticked down, but Matt Bengel missed a three as time expired as KU completed the comeback.
Both teams were almost dead even statistically, with KU shooting 44% compared to 45% from Bloomsburg. It was the third-best performance of the season from beyond the arc for KU, shooting 44% on eight made threes. The Huskies shared the ball offensively, with six of them netting double-figures.
The Golden Bears have three more regular season games remaining, starting with a home contest against Millersville on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
