ESU selected to NCAA Tournament / Follow the Warriors with Andy Heimbach

IUP (regional host) website / NCAA Tournament bracket

Pocono Record: Naysayers wrong about ESU

GAME NOTES / LIVE VIDEO of Saturday's game (5 p.m.)

EAST STROUDSBURG – The second-highest scoring teams in the PSAC and WVIAC will square off when No. 5 seed East Stroudsburg University takes on No. 4 West Virginia State in the Atlantic Region quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday night in Indiana, Pa.

ESU (24-5) received an at-large bid to the tournament after winning a share of the PSAC East regular season championship and advancing to the semifinals of the PSAC tournament last weekend, while West Virginia State (28-3) earned the automatic bid from the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) with a 108-107 win over West Liberty in the championship game.

IUP (28-2) is the region's top seed and will host two quarterfinal games on Saturday, at 5 and 7 p.m., and a semifinal game on Sunday at 7 p.m. West Liberty (27-2) is seeded No. 2 and will host the other half of the bracket, with the regional final game slated for Tuesday at the highest remaining seed.

ESU parents and fans who would like to order tickets may contact Donna Davis, Athletic Department secretary, at (570) 422-3642. Tickets are $8 for reserved seating, $6 for general admission and $4 for students. A three-game, two-day pass is also available for $14 for reserved seating, $10 for general admission and $6 for students.

West Virginia State was ranked No. 18 in last week's NABC poll and averages 95.3 points per game, third-most nationally, with West Liberty leading the WVIAC and Division II with 103.1 points per game. The two schools also rank first and second in the nation in three-pointers per game (West Liberty 13.0, WV State 11.5) and shoot better than 40 percent from long distance.

The Yellow Jackets have won 13 straight games entering their first-round match-up with ESU and have scored more than 80 points in 26 of their 31 games this season. All three of their losses came to NCAA Tournament teams – 90-70 vs. Barry (Fla.) on November 28, 84-79 at Alderson-Broaddus on January 21 and 100-85 at Fairmont State on February 4.

They are led by a pair of high-scoring guards, 5-7 junior Josh Miller (20.7 ppg) and 5-9 senior Darren Jones (20.1 ppg), and have five players averaging in double figures. Jones (5.5) and Miller (5.3) are both over five assists per game, Miller is averaging 2.8 steals per game, and Jones has one of the top free throw percentages in the country at 87.2 percent (123-141).

Senior Jason Emerson is among the nation's leaders with 100 three-pointers and a 44.8 percentage from behind the line while averaging just 16 minutes per game. He has made 110 field goals on the season and is 10-for-10 inside the three-point arc. Sophomore Bo King (12.8 ppg) has hit on 42.3 percent of his three-point attempts with 60 makes. In the post, junior forward Fred Harris is second in Division II with 4.4 blocks per game and is the team's leading rebounder with 7.7 per game.

ESU averages 79.1 points per game, second in the PSAC, but also ranks third in the PSAC in scoring defense (65.0 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (40.2) and is the top team in the conference in defending the three-point line at 28.9 percent.

The Warriors have also shot the ball well from long distance, ranking third in the PSAC in makes (6.6 per game) and fifth in percentage (33.8), with its top four shooters all above 34.8 percent.

Senior guard Andy Heimbach holds both school records for single season and career three-pointers and is the Warriors' leading scorer with 12.8 points per game. Heimbach has hit 75 three's this season, including a 6-for-12 performance in last week's 76-65 win over Cheyney in the PSAC quarterfinals, and has 235 three-pointers in his career.

Junior guard Micah Covert went 2-for-2 from the arc in both PSAC playoff games and is shooting 39.0 percent (23-59), junior guard Mike DeMarco is hitting at a 34.9 percent rate (30-86) and senior guard Robby Pines checks in at 34.8 percent (24-69).

Pines leads the PSAC and is in the top 10 in Division II with 6.4 assists per game, and is second in school history with 187 assists this season. He also ranks fourth on the team in scoring (8.2 ppg) and rebounding (4.1 rpg) and is the only Warrior who has been on the floor for more than 30 minutes in each game since the start of the PSAC East schedule.

Junior forward Mike Tobin is second on the Warriors in minutes and is the team's second-leading scorer (10.3 ppg) and top rebounder with 7.2 per game. Freshman forward Terrance King is third in both categories (8.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and has 42 blocked shots. King, Marcus Brown and Duane Johnson earned 11 of the 15 PSAC East Freshman of the Week awards this season.

In the other quarterfinal at IUP, the No. 5-ranked Crimson Hawks (28-2) bring a 10-game winning streak into their match-up with Fairmont State (22-7), which has lost four of its last seven games.

IUP guard Thomas Young (16.7 ppg) was named the MVP of the PSAC final four with 23 points vs. ESU and 25 points in an 84-73 win over Kutztown last weekend at Koehler Fieldhouse, and forward Darryl Webb is one of the top players in the region with 15.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

Steve Custis is Fairmont State's top scorer with 16.7 points per game and scored 32 points in a 100-85 win over West Virginia State that handed the Yellow Jackets their final loss before their current 13-game winning streak.

ESU will face West Virginia State for the first time in school history. The Warriors are 4-9 against IUP and had won three straight (2006-08) before Friday's PSAC semifinal, and are 0-2 against Fairmont State in a pair of meetings in 1997 and 1998.