Kurtz Scores 1,000th Point as Devils Defeat Eagles

William Kurtz notched the 1,000th point of his college career as he helped lead the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia to a 64-57 win over Post University in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) men's basketball game at the Bobby Morgan Arena this afternoon.

The win improves the Devils record to 6-5 overall and 5-2 in league play. The Eagles fall to 4-8 overall and 2-3 in league games.

Kurtz (Sr., Shawnee HS/Shamong, N.J.) entered the game seven points shy of the 1,000 mark. The senior guard picked up five points with a three-point field goal and a layup to start off a 15-0 run for the Devils. Kurtz added his second 'trey late in the run at the 7:30 mark to eclipse the 1,000 point plateau and become just the 34th player in school history to record 1,000 points. Kurtz joins teammate Eric Cangelosi (Sr., Camden Catholic HS/Haddon Heights, N.J.), who recorded his 1000th point earlier in the season as just the seventh pair of teammates in the 104-year history of men's basketball at the school to reach the 1000 career point plateau in the same season and the first pair to do so since the 2000-01 season (Sean Gorman, Jason Wood).

Kurtz finished the game with 18 points to lead the Devils and give him 1,011 points for his career. Keith Dundas (Jr., Pennsbury HS/Morrisville, Pa.) added 16 points (7-11 FG) and six rebounds while Howard Lanier (Jr., St. Augustine Prep/Sicklerville, N.J.) chipped in 10. Cangelosi led the Devils with seven rebounds. Kurtz also paced the Devils with four assists.

Gary Shick led the Eagles with 21 points while Peter Lawal chipped in 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

The game see-sawed back and forth in the opening minutes with neither team gaining more than a three-point advantage over the first nine minutes. Post's Mike Brockington hit a jumper at the 10:51 mark to give Post a 13-12 lead but the Devils countered with a 15-0 run to go up by 14, 27-13 at the 6:44 mark. Kurtz scored the first five points of the run and Lanier added a 'trey' at the 9:11 mark to make the score 20-13. Shane Connor (So., Pocono Mountain East HS/Canadensis, Pa.) followed with a short jumper and Kurtz hit his second three of the game to put the Devils up by 12, 25-13. Dundas followed with a layup to complete the run. USP still led by 13, 30-17 with 3:20 left before the Eagles scored the final nine points of the period to make the score 30-26 at the break. Shick scored all nine points of the run.

USP opened the second half with an 8-4 run to go up by eight, 38-30 at the 15:36 mark. Post followed with a 7-2 run to pull within three 40-37 with 11:05 left but the Devils got two layups from Dundas to go back up by seven, 44-37 with 9:37 left in the game. Post again pulled within three on layups by Brockington and Arthur Robertson but the Devils countered with an 8-3 run to boost the lead back up to eight 52-44 with 3:57 left.

Post kept things close and a Shick layup with two minutes left made the score 54-50. Lanier countered with a driving shot from the right side that kissed off the glass and in with 1:22 left to make the score 56-50. Post was forced to foul and the Devils made eight of 12 free throws in the final 64 seconds to seal the win as Post could pull no closer than five points (58-53) down the stretch.

For the game the Devils shot 45.5% from the field (21-49) and 17 of 25 from the free throw line (68%). Post made 24 of 56 field goals (42.9%) and was 5-of-8 from the free throw line (62.5%). Both teams had 33 rebounds while the Devils committed just nine turnovers to Post's 14.

The Devils will return to action on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 when they take on Dominican College at the Bobby Morgan Arena. Tip off is slated for 8 p.m.