Box Score
EAST STROUDSBURG - Jason Blake scored 21 points and hit a jumper with 32 seconds left in the second overtime, and Millersville held on to knock off East Stroudsburg University, 81-79, in a PSAC East men's basketball match-up on Wednesday night.
Warriors fans at Koehler Fieldhouse saw the home team play two overtime games on the same day for the first time in school history, but ESU dropped both ends of the doubleheader. Millersville used one overtime period to post a 51-47 win in the women's game earlier in the night.
The loss is the fourth straight for ESU (12-8, 3-4), all coming by five points or less, after opening PSAC East play with a 3-0 record. The Warriors tip off the second half of the schedule on Saturday at Kutztown and handed the Golden Bears their only conference loss, 77-73, on January 14 at Koehler Fieldhouse.
Blake's jumper was just the third field goal of the second overtime, and came after he forced the second extra session with a steal and dunk with 13 seconds left to force a 76-76 tie.
Millersville's Palmer McDurfee hit a three-pointer with 3:12 on the clock, but Robby Pines drilled a three from the corner on ESU's next possession to tie the game at 79-all. Blake missed four straight free throws down the stretch, but the Warriors didn't score on two chances at the other end and Blake put the Marauders in front with a half-minute to play.
Sophomore guard Mike DeMarco missed a jumper from the wing with 20 seconds left and McDurfee grabbed the rebound for Millersville, but Brandon Widener lost the ball out of bounds to give ESU a final shot. DeMarco's look at a three-pointer with two seconds left didn't go in, and Blake secured the rebound to give Millersville (7-13, 1-6) its first PSAC East win this season.
Blake had 21 and Widener and Makal Stibbins both had 15 to lead five Marauders in double figures. Millersville shot almost 53 percent from the field, but was just 17-of-35 at the foul line and turned the ball over 25 times. Blake was 9-of-12 from the field but 2-of-9 at the stripe.
Senior forward Chris Bach had a huge second half for ESU and finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Bach had two points and two rebounds at halftime as Millersville led 37-28, but scored 19 points and was 13-of-15 at the foul line in the second half to carry the Warriors.
Bach was 15-of-17 at the line for the game, his third of the year with at least 14 made free throws, and moves from outside the top 10 to seventh in ESU history with 120 free throws this season. He is shooting better than 80 percent at the line as a senior.
Sophomore forward Mike Tobin also came up big for ESU, with 14 points and eight rebounds while playing a career-high 37 minutes.
Bach and Tobin were instrumental as the Warriors opened the second half with a 17-2 run to take a 45-39 lead. Zac Bauermaster hit consecutive three-pointers for Millersville to tie the game with just under 14 minutes left, and the Marauders reestablished control, leading by as many as six and never trailing after the 11-minute mark.
Bach made two free throws to cut into the lead, had an offensive rebound and putback off his own miss, and made two more at the line with 2:03 left to bring ESU within 67-65. Bauermaster split a pair of free throws to make it 68-65, and junior guard Andy Heimbach tied the game at 68-68 - the score that would send the game to overtime - with 1:32 remaining.
Both teams had chances to go ahead at the foul line and missed three-pointers over the final half-minute, including Heimbach's with five seconds left.
The game was tied three times in the first overtime before Bach put ESU in front 76-74 with 55 seconds to play. Widener missed two free throws that would have tied the game, but the Warriors turned the ball over and Blake's dunk at the other end tied it up and DeMarco's jumper was no good at the buzzer.
