Box Score

EDINBORO – The East Stroudsburg University men's basketball program is off to its best start in school history after improving to 13-0 by holding off Edinboro for an 81-73 win on the road on Sunday afternoon at McComb Fieldhouse.

Junior forward Mike Tobin had his first career double-double, scoring a career-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds, as the Warriors surpassed their 1941-42 and 1942-43 squads who both started their years at 12-0.

The victory sets up a match-up between the final two undefeated teams in the PSAC when ESU travels to No. 6 Kutztown (12-0) for its Eastern division opener on Wednesday night. No. 4 IUP (11-1) suffered its first loss of the season at Cheyney, 88-84 in double overtime, on Sunday. The Warriors have already matched the 2007-08 team with a 13-game winning streak, and a win at Kutztown would equal the longest win streak in school history (1940-41).

Tobin, one of the PSAC's top offensive rebounders, grabbed two at the offensive end late in the game after Edinboro (6-7) rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to go ahead 69-68 with 3:34 left. The Warriors outscored the Fighting Scots 13-4 from that point and went ahead for good on a layup by freshman forward Duane Johnson, assisted by sophomore forward Eric Bryan (eight points, five rebounds) with just over two minutes to play.

Tobin and Johnson had offensive boards following Edinboro's next possession before the Fighting Scots rebounded a missed three-pointer with 1:30 left. Senior guard Robby Pines came away with a steal and converted a three-point play with a layup and a free throw a couple of seconds later to put the Warriors ahead by four (75-71). Pines finished the game with nine points, eight assists and only one turnover.

Danny Walsh missed a three-pointer that could have brought Edinboro within one and Bryan had the rebound. Tobin came up with another offensive rebound at the end of the shot clock, was fouled and hit two free throws for a 77-71 advantage with 39 seconds left to give him 20 points on the afternoon. Senior guard Andy Heimbach and junior guard DeMarco both hit a pair from the line to wrap up the victory.

DeMarco was the only other ESU player in double figures with 12 points, including 10 in the first half, to stake the Warriors to a 38-36 lead at the break in a period that featured seven ties and 14 lead changes.

The Warriors opened the second half on an 11-0 run in the first three minutes to seemingly take control. Tobin and Heimbach combined to score the Warriors' first nine points of the half and a tip-in by Bryan made the score 49-36 at the 17-minute mark. A jumper by Tobin with 12:31 left gave ESU its largest lead of the game at 15 points (59-44).

Cory Somerville scored a career-high 27 points for Edinboro, 17 in the second half, and scored 13 points in a 29-13 run that put the Fighting Scots ahead late in the contest before ESU responded to put the game away. Chris Bess scored 14 points, Byron Knight had 11 and Anthony Lyttle contributed seven points and 10 rebounds.

Edinboro shot 48 percent from the field, the second-best performance by a team against ESU this season, but the Warriors had 21 more field goal attempts thanks in part to a 21-13 advantage in turnovers. ESU shot 39 percent (30-for-77) while Edinboro was 27-for-56. The Warriors also shot 77.3 percent (17-for-22) at the foul line and made their final seven free throws of the game.

Kutztown is the preseason favorite in the PSAC East after reaching both the PSAC championship and NCAA Regional final games last season. ESU won the PSAC East opener between the two schools, 77-73 at Koehler Fieldhouse last season, while Kutztown won 93-70 in early February at Keystone Arena.