KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team pushed past Kutztown in the second half to grab a 71-63 victory on Friday night and extend their win streak to five straight games.
Kitt Najee Walls led a trio of Warriors in double-figures, registering 12 points along with three assists and three steals. Troy Jones added 11 points and three boards, and Michal Weiss notched 10 points and eight rebounds. Weiss has now posted eight or more boards in five straight games.
The Warriors were able to grind out the win in their first matchup against a PSAC East opponent this season despite shooting just 41.2-percent overall and 22.2-percent (4-18) from deep in the contest. The Warriors made a season-high 25 free throws in the tilt on 38 attempts from the line.
The stingy ESU defense held Kutztown to a 38.9-percent shooting night from the field and just a 1-of-10 mark from beyond the arc.
ESU improved to 8-3 on the year and 4-2 in conference with the victory, while Kutztown dropped to 5-7 overall and 3-3 in PSAC play.
Ryan Bernstein led the way for Kutztown with a game-high 22 points, while Wesley Butler chipped in 17.
In the first half of play, the Warriors rattled off a big 15-3 run over a four-minute stretch to grab their largest lead of the game, 25-15, with 11:00 showing on the clock. Marc Rodriguez and Mike Millsip combined for nine of the team's points to help fuel the rally.
Kutztown was able to chip away at the lead, and eventually tied the contest at 29-all on a layup from Tarojae Brake with 5:23 left in the period. Walls responded with back-to-back buckets for ESU, but the Golden Bears closed the half with seven of the final nine points to grab a 36-35 advantage heading into the break.
The Golden Bears held ESU off the scoreboard for the opening four minutes of the second half as they built their lead to four during the stretch. Jones then ended the drought with five straight points to put the Warriors back on top, 40-39, at the 15:13 mark.
Kutztown regained the lead with 12:19 on the clock before ESU sunk eight straight points, including the final six from Carlos Pepin, to push the Warriors back in front by six.
The game remained tight in the ensuing five minutes of play, and Kutztown eventually cut its deficit to just one, 55-54, with 5:11 remaining.
With ESU leading by only a bucket heading under the two-minute mark, Jones worked his way into the paint and laid one off the glass to push the Warrior lead to 63-59. After a timeout, the Warriors forced a miss by Kutztown before Millsip drained a clutch three from the corner on the other end to make it a 66-59 game with 1:15 remaining.
ESU held Kutztown to just two points the rest of the way and the Warriors hit five free throws down the stretch to close out the 71-63 victory.
ESU heads to Millersville for a matchup this Monday (Jan. 6) at 7:30 p.m.
