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Recaps - Pocono Record / Morning Call

EAST STROUDSBURG – Senior guard Andy Heimbach scored 20 points and East Stroudsburg University shot 12-for-25 from the three-point line to earn a 76-65 win over Cheyney and a spot in the PSAC men's basketball semifinals, which the Warriors will host on Friday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.

The Warriors (24-4) set the school record with their 24th win of the season and recorded their first postseason victory since 1991. They will face No. 6 IUP (26-2) in the second semifinal on Friday night at 7:30 p.m., while Kutztown (22-6) and Clarion (18-10) match-up at 5:30 p.m. Kutztown knocked off Mansfield, the top seed in the PSAC East, 65-61, IUP beat Gannon 62-53 and Clarion beat Mercyhurst 76-69 in the quarterfinals.

ESU will host the PSAC Men's Basketball Championship for the first time in school history and will be looking for its second-ever title, following the 1989-90 team that also made the school's only NCAA tournament appearance. The championship game will be played on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

The PSAC champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament. ESU was ranked No. 5 in the Atlantic Region last week with the top eight teams selected to the tournament when the announcement is made on Sunday night.

Heimbach's 6-for-12 performance from behind the arc kept the Warriors in front for nearly the entire night, but ESU didn't take the lead for good until junior forward Mike Tobin (13 points, eight rebounds) made one-of-two at the line to break the game's 11th tie and make the score 59-58 with 5:46 remaining.

Junior guard Mike DeMarco's three-pointer with 4:13 left, the Warriors' 12th of the night, put them ahead 64-59 after Tobin and freshman forward Marcus Brown grabbed offensive rebounds during the possession.

Cheyney stayed within reach on layups by Kevin Presbery and Sharif Bray (24 points), while Tobin's driving layup and three-point play put the Warriors up by six (69-63) with 2:43 remaining.

Tobin grabbed another offensive rebound and freshman forward Terrance King (12 points) made one-of-two from the line to make it a seven-point game. Bray came back with a layup for the Wolves before King made two at the line, Pines grabbed a defensive rebound and then assisted on Heimbach's long, banked-in jumper at the end of the shot clock that put the Warriors in front 74-65 with 36 seconds on the clock to start the celebration at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Heimbach made at least six three-pointers for the fourth time in his career and extended his school records for three's in a single season (74) and career (234).

Senior guard Robby Pines scored six points, hitting a three-pointer on the Warriors' first possessions of both halves, and had eight assists and five rebounds to direct an offense that shot 50 percent from the field. ESU shot 55 percent in the first half, going 7-for-12 from behind the arc, including five of its first six.

Despite ESU's sterling shooting, Cheyney led 38-33 at halftime as Bray scored 17 points and the Wolves committed just two turnovers. The Warriors tied the game in the first minute of the second half on a three-pointer by Pines and a dunk by King, and ran out to a seven-point lead (48-41) when Heimbach hit his second triple of the half and fifth of the game with 16:27 showing.

Cheyney battled back to take the lead with a 10-1 run as Rob Townsend got behind the Warriors for a pair of fastbreak layups and Tamir Smith made two free throws to put the Wolves in front, 51-49, with 12:56 left.

The lead changed hands three times and there were four ties over the next nine minutes as neither team led by more than one possession until DeMarco's three-pointer off a broken play at the 4:13 mark, and ESU didn't turn the ball over in the final seven minutes to pull away.

ESU improved to 3-1 in PSAC playoff games at Koehler Fieldhouse and played in front of its home crowd in the conference tournament for the first time since 1998. The Warriors had dropped their last six PSAC playoff games, including the last five in the quarterfinals.

They will be making their fourth-ever appearance in the semifinals following three straight trips in 1990, 1991 and 1992. The 1990 PSAC championship is the only appearance in the title game in school history.

Ticket prices for this weekend's PSAC championship are $14 for a two-day pass for adults ($8 for Saturday only) and $5 for children under 12 ($3 for Saturday only). Students from member PSAC institutions will be admitted for free with a valid ID.