BY CORY NIDOH
Asst. Sports Editor
The East Stroudsburg University Men’s Basketball team bounced back after their first loss of the season to Lock Haven last Thursday with an impressive 93-64 victory over the Millersville University Marauders at Koehler Fieldhouse Saturday.
After the loss to the Bald Eagles, which snapped the Warriors 20-game win streak, ESU came back home to play in front of their faithful and showed no signs of being hung up on the loss.
ESU, who leads the PSAC in points per game with 87.2, pulled away from the Marauders thanks to two 11-0 runs—one midway in the first half and one later in the second half—to improve to 21-1 overall and 11-1 in conference play.
Although the Warriors have been known for their offensive prowess, their defense has been just as good. They are second in all of Division II in turnover margin (+8.4) and Matt Tobin is third in the PSAC with 2.2 steals per game.
The defense was on display as ESU was able to capitalize off the turnovers they forced, and scored 20 points off of Millersville miscues.
The Warriors were led offensively by standout junior guard Whis Grant and freshman forward Rasheed Moore. The Warriors shot very well from the field at 52.2 percent and went 12-25 from downtown. Grant set the tone early in the game knocking down two three pointers on the Warrior’s first two possessions and shot well throughout the contest. Grant finished with 22 points (7-9 FG) which catapulted him to eleventh place in school history
Moore, who has been a key addition to the Warrior’s roster, finished the game with 17 points and supplied a presence down low for ESU. Jeff Wilson and his squad also got great contribution from the bench as they combined for 34 points.
Leading the way was junior Guard Will Brown, who had 9 points off the bench, along with freshman Guard Anthony McKie, who added 8 of his own, along while freshman Forward Steve Harris, sophomore Forward Dajon Todman, and junior Forward Lamont Tillery.
With the victory, ESU earned its 1000 victory and now has a record of 1,000-976 in their 87 seasons as a four-year institution.
The Warriors also reached the 20-win mark or above for the fourth time in the last five years under 12 year Head Coach Jeff Wilson.
The Warriors host the Bloomsburg Huskies (9-3, 13-8) in a game with PSAC East playoff implications this Saturday at Koehler Fieldhouse at 3:00 PM.
Email Cory at:
cnidoh@live.esu.edu