Box Score  l  Photo Gallery  l  Photo Gallery 2

Regional information page  l  NCAA DII page  l  Buy tickets online for Sunday (until 3 p.m.)

Pocono Record: Warriors advance with win over Livingstone
Morning Call: ESU gets defensive to beat Livingstone

EAST STROUDSBURG – Junior guard Whis Grant scored 29 points to lead five double-figure scorers and No. 2-ranked East Stroudsburg University secured the second NCAA postseason win in program history with a 99-98 victory over Livingstone in the first round of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional on Saturday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.

ESU (29-1), the Atlantic Region's No. 1 seed and regional host for the first time in program history, advances to face No. 5 seed Gannon, which defeated Charleston, 66-64, in Saturday's fourth game. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Mark Thomas, the CIAA Player of the Year, scored 36 points and Jody Hill, Jr. had 29 for Livingstone (21-8), the CIAA tournament champion, which scored the final nine points after ESU led 99-89 with 2:48 left, but the Warriors held on.

Thomas missed a jumper, pressured by Grant, with three seconds left and senior forward Zechariah Runkle grabbed the last of his career-high 15 rebounds to secure the victory. Grant and Thomas were both named to the Daktronics All-Region first team on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, No. 3-seed IUP posted a 75-68 win over West Chester, and No. 2-seed West Liberty, the three-time regional champion, won 88-72 over Glenville State. West Liberty-IUP precedes ESU-Gannon at 5 p.m.

The victory is ESU's first NCAA postseason win since 1990 and comes by the same score. The Warriors outlasted Slippery Rock, 99-98 (OT), in an East Region semifinal game at Mercyhurst in Erie, Pa.

Freshman forward Rasheed Moore had 18 points and seven rebounds, redshirt junior guard Will Brown scored 16 points off the bench, junior point guard Matt Tobin had 11 points and 11 assists for his fourth double-double of the year and sophomore guard Jamal Nwaniemeka – the PSAC Tournament MVP last Sunday – had 10 points for the Warriors.

The entire contest was played at a frenetic pace and included just 24 turnovers – 10 by Livingstone and 14 by ESU – just the second time the Warriors have committed more turnovers than their opponents this season. ESU leads DII in turnover margin (+7.7) entering the NCAA Tournament.

ESU led by as many as 13 points (67-54) in the second half before Livingstone climbed back to tie the game at 83-all with 7:26 remaining.

The Warriors stretched their lead back to 10 (99-89) with 2:48 left, including a 6-0 surge sparked by a three-point play by Tobin, but Livingstone had a final push.

Thomas hit a three-pointer with 2:08 left, knocked down three free throws at the 1:20 mark to make it 99-95, and drilled another three after an ESU turnover to bring the Blue Bears within 99-98 with 47 seconds left.

A layup by Grant was waved off on an offensive goaltend with 15 seconds left, and after a Livingstone timeout, Thomas pulled up for a jumper from the wing that came up short.

GAME NOTES
* ESU's 99 points were the most of any of the 32 first-round games in this year's NCAA DII Tournament.

* The regional semifinalists have combined to win the last 5 Atlantic Region titles - Gannon (2009), IUP (2010) and West Liberty (2011-13).
* ESU's furthest advance in the NCAA DII Tournament was the East Region final in 1990, falling to Gannon, 72-63, in the regional played at Mercyhurst in Erie.

* ESU is in the NCAA DII Tournament for the 4th time in 5 years, and the 5th time in school history.
* ESU improves to 2-4 in NCAA Tournament games.

* ESU's PSAC championship last week at Koehler Fieldhouse (W 92-80 vs. West Chester) was the program's 2nd in 3 years, and 3rd in school history (also 1990).

* ESU won its only meeting with Gannon this year, 75-60 on January 3 at Koehler Fieldhouse.  (Recap)

* ESU extends a school record with its 29th win. The previous record of 24 wins was set in 2009-10, going 24-6.

* ESU's No. 2 ranking is the highest in school history, and the highest for a PSAC school since IUP was No. 2 on March 9, 2010.

* ESU improves to 17-0 at Koehler Fieldhouse this year, and has won 19 straight home games dating to last season.

* 22 of ESU's 29 victories have come by double figures. The Warriors were 4th in DII in scoring margin (+17.8) entering the week.

* The Warriors have won 71 games in the last 3 years (71-20), the most in school history. The 1970-71 through 72-73 teams were 63-12.

* The Warriors are 111-38 since the start of the 2009-10 season, the 3rd-most wins and 3rd-best winning percentage in the Atlantic Region in the last 5 years.

* ESU won its 2nd straight PSAC East regular season title this winter, and the 4th in school history (1992, 2010, 2013, 2014).
 
* Jeff Wilson, 212-128 in his 12th season, ranks 2nd at ESU in career victories.
* Ken Sisson holds the career record with 215, going 215-245 in 19 years (1963-78, 79-83).

* ESU finished ranked in the NABC DII poll for the first time in school history.
* ESU is ranked in the top 10 in DII for the 11th straight week, and the 13th week in program history.
* ESU is ranked in the top 25 for the 15th straight week, after being ranked for 13 weeks in program history previously.

* ESU has won 9 straight since its only loss of the season, 82-80 at Lock Haven on February 6.
* ESU was the final undefeated team in DII this season at 20-0.
* ESU's 20-game win streak to start the season was the PSAC's longest since 1994-95, when IUP opened 21-0.
* The last PSAC team to go undefeated in the regular season was Cheyney (24-0) in 1965-66.

* ESU led DII in turnover margin (+7.7) entering the weekend. The Warriors lost the turnover margin (14-10) for just the 2nd time in 30 games this season.
* When holding a turnover margin of +5 or greater, ESU is: 20-1 this year, 35-3 the last 2 years, and 55-11 since the start of the 2009-10 season.

* Grant is 6th at ESU with 1,445 career points, 1 shy of entering the top 5 in school history during his junior season. Russ Hopewell scored 1,446 points from 1958-62.

* Grant extended his single-season record for 3-pointers to 82. He surpassed Andy Heimbach (76, 2009-10) in the PSAC championship game last Sunday.
* He ranks 2nd in career 3-pointers with 204, behind Heimbach's record 236 (2006-10).

* Tobin had his 4th double-double (points, assists) of the season with 11 points and 11 assists. He had his 5th 10+ assist game of the year.
* He is tied for 2nd on ESU's single-season list with 193 assists, matching Robby Pines in 2009-10. Bob Schlosser set the school record of 230 in 1974-75.
* Tobin is 4th on ESU's career assist list with 356 in his 2nd season as a starter. Mike DelGrosso holds the record of 467 (1987-91).

* Grant and Tobin were both named to the All-PSAC East 1st team last week. Rasheed Moore was a 2nd team selection and the Freshman of the Year.
* Moore had his 7th game with 18+ points this season. He has scored 410 points during his freshman season, 3rd-most by an ESU freshman since 1974-75.
* Shahad Abdur-Rahkman scored 478 points in 1999-00, and Grant scored 431 in 2011-12.

* Nwaniemeka scored a career-high 27 points in last Sunday's PSAC championship game, a 92-80 victory over Slippery Rock.

* Brown's 16 points (5-8 fg, 3-5 3's) followed a difficult PSAC Tournament in which ESU's top bench scorer had just 9 points on 3-of-19 shooting, including 0-for-10 in the semifinals and finals. He had a career-high 25 points in the Warriors' previous game, a 74-71 win over West Chester in the regular season finale on February 26.