EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University moved up seven spots to No. 13 in this week's NABC Division II poll, the second-highest national ranking in school history, it was announced Tuesday afternoon.

The Warriors (17-2, 14-1 PSAC) have won 11 straight games, tied for the fourth-longest active streak in Division II and the third-longest at ESU in the last 70 years. They entered the rankings at No. 20 last week and won a pair of road games, 77-68 at Bloomsburg and 87-77 at West Chester in a rematch of last year's PSAC championship game.

ESU will be home for five of its final seven regular season games, including three straight, beginning Wednesday night against Cheyney at 8 p.m. The Warriors host Kutztown on Saturday and Mansfield the following Wednesday.

ESU's highest-ever national ranking (#12) came in February 2010, part of a six-week run with a national ranking on the way to a school-record 24 wins and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Warriors were ranked for one week during the 1991-92 season.

The Warriors put all five starters in double figures at West Chester as they closed the game on a 20-9 run – similar to the 15-10 run they used to close last year's PSAC championship game victory.

Sophomore guard Whis Grant scored 23 points and is averaging 20.2 during the 11-game winning streak. Senior forward Terrance King scored 17, senior forward Gerald Bridges had 15 (one off his career-high), junior forward Zechariah Runkle had a career-high 11 and sophomore guard Matt Tobin had 10, including a late three-pointer with the Warriors holding a three-point lead.

ESU's four-year seniors – King, Bridges and forward Duane Johnson, who missed the game due to illness – improved to 77-32 in their careers at ESU to set a new standard for wins in a four-year stretch. They have played in three straight PSAC Final Fours, and advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2010 and 2012.

The seniors' accomplishment for career victories is one of several that the Warriors have already reached this season under 11th-year head coach Jeff Wilson, who is 178-122 and coached his 300th career game at West Chester:

* ESU's current 11-game winning streak trails only a pair of 13-game streaks (in 2007-08 and 2009-10) in recent program history. The school record of 14 straight wins was set in 1940-41.

* The 11-game PSAC winning streak is already a school record for a single season. The Warriors won 15 straight games against PSAC schools spanning the 1940-41 through 1942-43 seasons.

* The Warriors have also set school records for consecutive road PSAC wins (11, active) and consecutive PSAC wins by 10+ points, winning six straight from January 11 through January 26.

* ESU's current nine-game road winning streak is one game away from the school record, set in the first 10 road games in program history from 1926-27 through 1927-28.

In this week's NCAA Division II statistical rankings, ESU is eighth (of 286 schools) in turnover margin (+5.4 per game), 16th in steals (10.1 per game), 19th in scoring margin (+11.8) and 21st in three-point percentage defense (30.1).

In the PSAC, the Warriors moved to the top of the conference in scoring, averaging 77.8 points per game. They are second in scoring margin and offensive rebounds (14.9 per game), tied for second in three-pointers per game (6.8), third in rebounding margin (+3.5 per game), fifth in three-point percentage (34.1) and sixth in scoring defense (66.0 ppg).

The Warriors also lead the PSAC in turnovers forced at 20.2 per game, rank second in steals, and are third in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.96).

Grant is seventh in the PSAC in scoring with 17.8 points per game and has scored 20+ points in five of the last eight games. He also remains the conference leader in three-point percentage (43.9, 47-107), is third in three-pointers per game (2.5) and is eighth in steals (1.8).

King is third in the PSAC in blocks (1.3 per game), fourth in field goal percentage (59.1) and ninth in rebounding (6.9 rpg), and is ESU's third-leading scorer with 13.2 ppg. He went over the 1,200-point mark for his career (1,202), just ahead of Johnson's 1,189.

Johnson is just a notch above King in scoring this season, also at 13.2 ppg, ranks in the top 20 in the PSAC in scoring and rebounding (6.2 rpg), and seventh with 1.8 steals per game. He missed his first career game at West Chester, with Johnson and King both playing in 108 of the 109 games in their careers at ESU.

Bridges played in his 100th career game on Saturday and was on the floor for 37 minutes, contributing 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. He has made 90 career three-pointers and is closing in on 500 career points.


NABC Division II Coaches Poll (previous ranking)
1. Metropolitan State (Colo.) – 19-0, 397 points (13 first-place votes) (1)
2. Western Washington – 20-0, 387 (2)
3. West Liberty (W.V.) – 20-1, 365 (3)
4. Cal Poly – 17-1, 353 (5)
5. Minnesota State – 18-2, 326 (7)
6. Seattle Pacific (Wash.) – 16-3, 306 (4)
7. IUP – 17-2, 298 (8)
8. Florida Southern – 16-2, 295 (9)
9. Alabama-Huntsville – 16-3, 262 (11)
10. Southern Indiana – 16-3, 247 (13)
11. Bellarmine (Ky.) – 16-3, 243 (6)
12. Winona State (Minn.) – 20-3, 218 (17)
13. East Stroudsburg (Pa.) – 17-2, 191 (20)
14. Adams State (Colo.) – 14-3, 164 (23)
15. Saint Anselm (N.H.) – 16-3, 157 (22)
16. Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) – 15-3, 143 (10)
17. Washburn (Kan.) – 14-4, 131 (21)
18. Harding (Ark.) – 17-3, 120 (24)
19. Wayne State (Mich.) – 14-3, 114 (25)
20. Fort Lewis (Colo.) – 14-3, 98 (14)
21. Indianapolis (Ind.) – 15-4, 69 (15)
22. North Alabama – 16-3, 59 (NR)
23. Kentucky Wesleyan – 15-4, 50 (18)
24. Winston-Salem (N.C.) – 16-4, 39 (16)
25. Dominican (N.Y.) – 18-3, 31 (NR)

Dropped out: Barton (12), Rollins (19)

Others receiving votes: Rollins (Fla.) 28, Fairmont State (W.V.) 23, Barton (N.C.) 20, Saint Leo (Fla.) 16, Cal State-San Bernardino 11, Dixie State (Utah) 10, Grand Valley State (Mich.) 7, Newman (Kan.) 5, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 4, Gannon (Pa.) 3, Midwestern State (Texas) 3, Central Missouri 2, Augustana (S.D.) 2, Drury (Mo.) 2, Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 1