Box Score
EAST STROUDSBURG - Sophomore guard
Andy Heimbach scored 14 second-half points, including four free throws in the final 15 seconds, to help East Stroudsburg University take a huge step towards its third straight PSAC tournament appearance with a 73-70 win over Millersville on Saturday at Koehler Fieldhouse.
Junior forward Chris Bach led ESU with 21 points and nine rebounds and sophomore guard Dawud Lyons had 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in his second career start. Heimbach finished with 15 points and was 4-of-8 from the field and 5-for-6 at the foul line.
Bach scored 18 of his 21 points in the first half, three days after netting 21 of his career-high 28 in the second half of a 76-53 win at Bloomsburg. The performance is his sixth 20-plus point game of the season.
Millersville's Charlie Parker led all scorers with 27 points and Reggie Bates had 17 points for the Marauders (18-7, 7-3), the defending PSAC champions.
The win is the third straight for the Warriors (17-8), who improve to 5-5 in the PSAC East and stay one game ahead of Mansfield for the fourth playoff spot. The Mounties won 60-57 at West Chester on Saturday.
ESU led by as many as 12 points in the first half and took a 41-32 lead into the locker room after Parker hit a three-pointer in the final seconds.
The Warriors reestablished a double-digit lead early in the second half after a three-pointer by Heimbach, and extended the margin to 17 points (62-45) after consecutive buckets by Lyons midway through the final period.
The Marauders rattled off a 14-2 run to pull within 64-59 before Heimbach pushed the lead back to 10 points with a layup and a triple, both assisted by Lyons, with 3:57 to go.
Parker and Bates both knocked down three-pointers to bring Millersville within four with 1:30 left, and ESU failed to score on four straight trips down the floor.
Parker turned the ball over with 51 seconds left and Millersville fouled sophomore guard Robbie Pines, who missed the front end of a one-and-one with 34 seconds to play. Bates missed a three but Bernard Brown had an offensive rebound and putback which made the score 69-67 with 24 seconds on the clock.
Heimbach made two free throws to extend the lead to four, but Parker came back down and drilled his fourth three of the game to cut the deficit to one (71-70) with 11 seconds left. ESU again inbounded the ball to Heimbach, who knocked down both shots, and pressured Parker into missing the game-tying three as time expired.
ESU's second unit of Pines, freshmen guards Mike DeMarco and Mike Tobin, and sophomore forward Preston Ritter, along with starting forward Josh Wentz, went on an 8-0 run over a three-minute stretch late in the first half to help ESU pull away from a 20-20 tie. Tobin and Ritter both finished with four points.
ESU will host Mansfield on Senior Night on Wednesday at 8 p.m. A win would secure the Warriors' third consecutive playoff berth, something that hasn't been accomplished since the 1989-90, 90-91 and 91-92 seasons. ESU closes the season on Saturday, March 1 at Kutztown.
