Men's Basketball
Game Recap

Dec, 3, 2008

DENNIS BECOMES 19th GOLDEN BEAR TO REACH 1,000 POINTS

Kutztown (5-0)           97
Chestnut Hill (0-5)      77
BOXSCORE

KUTZTOWN, Pa. — Stephen Dennis (jr. West Chester/Henderson) scored his 1,000th point Wednesday night and for a long stretch in the second half, it looked like he might come up short.

The Kutztown University men’s basketball team, however, never looked like it would come up short, routing Chestnut Hill 97-77 at Keystone Hall in a non-conference game.

Dennis, who scored 18 points in the first half, missed a few free throws and two jumpers midway through the second half, but he finally pushed his career total to 1,001 with a layup underneath with 3:24 left.

“It felt great,” Dennis said. “I came out strong with 18 in the first half, and then I was slow in the second half and I wasn’t sure I was going to get it, but I wound up pulling through.”

Dennis finished with 28 points, leading five Golden Bears in double digits.

Andre Woodlin (sr. Philadelphia/Central) finished with 19 points, Dave Ben (sr. Coatesville/Coatesville) had 15 and Ryan Washington (so. Philadelphia/Wissahickon) and Julius Gray (so. Lincoln/Oxford) each had 12.

Ben also led KU with nine assists and eight rebounds.

KU (5-0) used a 13-2 run midway through the first half to build a 27-15 lead. Chestnut Hill (0-5) cut the lead to nine points twice, but KU pulled away each time and eventually went into halftime with a 20-point lead, 48-28.

The Golden Bears shot 65.2 percent (30-of-46) from the floor, a single-game school record, including an 8-for-12 clip from 3-point range. Gray led KU with three 3-pointers and Dennis had two.

Chestnut Hill slowed down the second half with 20 fouls — totaling 34 in the game — sending KU to the line a season-high 42 times.

Dennis was 6-of-9 from the free-throw line, missing a few early in the second half. Sitting at 999 points for his career, he knew he had to get the job done at home before the Golden Bears hit the road for their next game.

“I was working hard to get it here at home,” he said. “Since last week when I looked at the schedule, I said to coach, ‘I need to get it on this night.’ So Ryan Washington told me to get to the basket and I did.”

After the basket, KU head coach Bernie Driscoll called timeout and Dennis made a curtain call to the crowd of 650 at Keystone Hall.

Dennis is the 19th player in KU history to score 1,000 points. He is now tied for 17th on the list and joins Ben, who scored his 1,000th point last season, also in a win over Chestnut Hill.

That wasn't it for milestones against Chestnut Hill last season. Driscoll picked up his 100th career win in that same victory.

KU will travel to Penn State-Berks for a 3 p.m. tipoff Saturday.