Box Score

CALDWELL, N.J. – East Stroudsburg University outscored Caldwell 28-8 over the final eight minutes and will enter 2010 with a perfect 9-0 record after earning a 73-60 victory in the final game of the ECAC Holiday Classic on Sunday night at the Newman Center.

ESU will go for its 10th straight win on Saturday, January 2 when it hosts Clarion at 3 p.m. at Koehler Fieldhouse. A victory would match the 1971-72 squad for the best start in the last 67 seasons of men's basketball.

The Warriors trailed 35-30 at halftime and were down 52-45 before going on their run to close the game, sparked by a bench that scored 28 of their 43 points after intermission.

Freshman forward Duane Johnson scored a team-high 11 points, including five in a two-minute stretch with an offensive rebound and putback and a three-pointer that tied the game at 52-all sandwiched around a jumper by freshman forward Marcus Brown.

Brown tied the score at 54-54 with another jumper at the 5:20 mark and sophomore forward Eric Bryan gave the Warriors the lead for good on their next possession. Johnson made a pair of free throws, Brown hit a fallaway jumper after an offensive rebound and junior guard Mike DeMarco extended the lead to six (64-58) on a three-pointer with 2:18 remaining.

ESU put the game away with a 9-2 spurt in the final two minutes, as senior guard Robby Pines hit a pair of free throws and had the assist on a layup by DeMarco that pushed the margin to 10. Pines finished with seven assists, giving him 59 in ESU's first nine games.

Brown had 10 points and seven rebounds to earn the game's MVP award, and was one of seven Warriors who scored at least seven points. Johnson (11), Brown (10), Bryan (9) and junior guard Micah Covert (9) combined to produce 39 points off the bench, with Johnson and Bryan both netting nine in the second half.

DeMarco finished with 10 points, including two three-pointers, freshman forward Terrance King had eight points (all in the second half) and added five rebounds and junior forward Mike Tobin had seven points and 10 boards.

The Warriors held a 44-31 rebounding advantage and pulled down 20 rebounds on the offensive end. They have held a double-figure advantage on the boards in their last five games, and seven of the first nine games this season.

The first half was played within five points, and Caldwell's 35-30 halftime lead was its second-largest advantage of the game. ESU went ahead 37-36 sparked by two buckets by King and a three-point play by Bryan, but the Cougars regained their lead with an 11-2 push before the Warriors came back.

ESU will enter 2010 with eight players averaging at least seven points per game, led by senior guard Andy Heimbach (13.9), who scored 24 points in a 78-74 win over Dominican on Saturday but was held to five points vs. Caldwell. Covert checks in with 10.2 points per game, followed by Johnson (9.8) and Pines (8.7), who is also averaging 6.6 assists per game with a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Tobin (7.8 ppg) is the leading rebounder, averaging 7.6 per night, and Brown has posted averages of 7.3 points and 6.0 rebounds.

The Warriors are back in action on January 2 and 3 with a pair of home games at Koehler Fieldhouse as they host PSAC West opponents Clarion and Gannon in non-conference action.