Box Score

Highlights: Clarion  l  Lock Haven  l  Coach Wilson's thoughts

EAST STROUDSBURG – Sophomore guard Whis Grant scored 18 points, including seven straight in a decisive 19-3 run early in the second half, as East Stroudsburg University ran past Clarion for a 75-51 win in PSAC men's basketball on Wednesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Sophomore guard Matt Tobin had 14 points, senior forward Terrance King scored 13 on 6-of-7 shooting and junior forward Zechariah Runkle pulled down 10 rebounds to lead ESU (7-2, 4-1), which rebounded from a 68-58 loss to Lock Haven to finish the fall semester.

ESU led throughout, but by only one (33-32) before going on the game-deciding run. The Warriors outscored Clarion 42-23 in the second half and forced 23 total turnovers as part of a strong defensive effort.

The victory keeps the defending PSAC champion Warriors in a tie for the top spot in the PSAC East with Millersville (8-3, 4-1) going into the semester break. The Marauders had a 72-60 win over Mercyhurst after falling to Gannon, 69-52, on Tuesday.

ESU put together a key run in each half, starting with a  15-1 stretch early in the game to take a 20-6 lead at the 12:15 mark, which included two three's by Grant and another by senior forward Gerald Bridges.

The Warriors held a healthy lead the remainder of the first period until a three-pointer by Marques Jones (18 points – 13 in the first half) cut it to 33-28 at halftime.

Clarion's Evan Battle scored the first two field goals of the second half to get within 33-32, but King scored back-to-back buckets and Tobin knocked down a three to give ESU some breathing room at 40-32.

After Jones hit his fourth three of the game, ESU continued with a 12-0 stretch – sparked by nine points from Grant and hustle plays by Runkle, sophomore forward Lamont Tillery and senior guard Blair Ramsey – to open a 17-point lead (52-35) with 13 minutes left.

The Warriors led by at least 15 the rest of the way and stretched it out to 20 with eight minutes left. The largest lead was 75-47 before Clarion scored the final four points of the game.

ESU, which leads the PSAC in turnover margin (+3.75), held a +13 advantage on Wednesday night. The Warriors turned over Clarion 11 times in the first half and 12 in the second while giving it up just 10 times all game. They had 10 steals and turned the advantage into a 29-6 margin in points off turnovers.

Tobin, among the PSAC leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio in his first season as the Warriors' starting point guard, had four assists against two turnovers. Ramsey had four assists and just one turnover and Grant and Bridges had three assists each.

ESU had a 21-12 edge in bench points, getting six points and three rebounds from Tillery, five points from redshirt sophomore guard Muhamadou Kaba, three points with four assists from Ramsey and two points and his career-high 10 rebounds from Runkle in 21 minutes of work.

Senior forward Duane Johnson, the PSAC's fifth-leading scorer (18.0 ppg), had less than a dozen points for the first time this season. He finished with six points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots, moving within two of the top 10 in career blocks at ESU.

Jones was the only Golden Eagle in double figures with 18 points but also had seven of Clarion's 23 turnovers. Leonard Patterson added seven points and six rebounds.

ESU heads into the semester break with a 7-2 record and faces two of the top contenders in the PSAC West, IUP and California, on January 4 and 5 at Koehler Fieldhouse.