Golden Bears Begin Second Half of PSAC East Slate

What:West Chester Golden Rams vs. Kutztown Golden Bears
When: Saturday February 9th
Where: Keystone Arena on the campus of Kutztown University

The Kutztown men's basketball team will look to build off a sizzling second half on Wednesday night which saw them score 52 points and erase an 11-point deficit. The Golden Bears defeated East Stroudsburg 78-56 to move into a first place tie in the PSAC East with Cheyney. This is the start of the second half of the PSAC East slate for the Golden Bears. They begin this stretch against a West Chester team that they beat on the road on January 19 by a score of 70-54. In that game, freshman Ryan Washington had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Dave Ben had 14 points and seven rebounds. Stephen Dennis added 11 points. The Golden Bears won despite shooting an abysmal 2-of-7 from the charity stripe. KU has won seven of its last nine games.

The Golden Rams have lost six of nine and are 11-10 overall and a dismal 2-4 in the PSAC East. WCU lost to Millersville on Wednesday night by a score of 75-62 thus dropping them a game out of the final PSAC East playoff spot. WCU is led by guard Kenneth St. George who averages 16.7 points per game. Teammate Kahinde Roberts is second on the team and averages 13.8 points per game. Forward Lenwood Greenwood leads the team in rebounds, averaging 8.8 per game. WCU has a very deep bench, however, it is not laden with much talent. KU's bench players significantly outperformed WCU's bench players in the team's first meeting of the season.

Probable Starters:

West Chester
G- #10 Aaron Smith
G- #12 Kenneth St. George
G-#40 Kahinde Roberts
F- # 21 Lenwood Greenwood
C- # 32 Ralph Hegamin

Kutztown
G- #14 Stephen Dennis
G- #32 Andre Woodlin
F- #34 Dave Ben
F- #52 Ryan Washington
C- #55 Jeremy Coombs

Prediction: Considering that the Golden Bears had no trouble with the Golden Rams the first time around, and that game was on the road, expect the Golden Bears to be in cruise control from the get go. WCU will need a spectacular game from both St. George and Roberts. They will get that kind of game from one, not both. Dave Ben has continued to prove that he can carry this team on his back when he needs to. He won't need to do a lot of it in this game, but I expect three or four dunks out of him. Golden Bears will keep pace with Cheyney after winning this one.

KUTZTOWN 80
WEST CHESTER 65