Kutztown, IUP to Battle for Men's Basketball Championship
Tournament Headquarters
East Stroudsburg, Pa. - Kutztown and IUP held off late rallies to win Friday night in PSAC Men's Basketball semifinal action.
Kutztown 85, Clarion 79
Four Kutztown players hit double-point figures, led by a game-high 22 points from Julius Gray, to advance to the PSAC title game for the second straight season.
Kutztown opened up a 17 point lead in the opening minutes of the second half and looked to be cruising toward victory, yet Clarion went on a furious run over the next eight minutes. The Golden Eagles 23-9 advantage during that period cut Kutztown's lead to 56-53 with 11:47 remaining in the contest. The Golden Bears would never lead by more than seven the rest of the way.
Clarion, which never led in the contest, twice cut the lead down to a single point and trailed by just two when Shameel Carty hit one of two free throws with 37 seconds left. Kutztown, however, would hit six straight free throws to seal the victory.
Division II's leading scorer Stephen Dennis added 19 points for the Golden Bears, while Jon DeShields (13 points) and Ryan Washington (10 points, 13 rebounds) were other key contributors.
Clarion was led by Carty with 20 points, followed by Jamar Harrison (16) and Denzil Dennison (14 points). The Golden Eagles shot 29.7% in the first half and 69.0% in the second half.
IUP 67, East Stroudsburg 63
Thomas Young pumped in a game-high 23 points, including a pair of go ahead free throws in the final minute, to leading IUP to a 67-63 win over host East Stroudsburg. The Crimson Hawks adavance to the PSAC Championship Game tomorrow evening, marking their first appearance in the title tilt since facing Kutztown in 2004.
Young's free throws put IUP up 65-63 with 41 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, the Crimson Hawks were able to draw a charge call on ESU's Mike DeMarco as he was heading in for a game-tying lay up. Ashton Smith put the game out of reach with a pair of free throws just nine seconds later, which provided the final margin.
IUP built a pair of nine-point leads midway through the second half, but could not distance itself from the Warriors. ESU held its last lead at 19:17 in the second half, yet rallied to tie the game on a dunk by Terrance King with 2:19 in the game.
IUP made 48.1% (26-54 ) of its shots while holding ESU to 37.7% (23-61), including a 5 for 22 effort (22.7%) from the 3-point line. Ashton Smith (17 points) and Darryl Webb (16 points) also keyed IUP's charge.
East Stroudsburg was led by Robbie Pines (11 points, 8 assists) and Micah Covert (11 points).