Box Score

WEST CHESTER – Sophomore Duane Johnson and senior Mike Tobin combined for 34 points and 17 rebounds to help head coach Jeff Wilson move into third in school history in career victories with an 82-69 win at West Chester on Saturday afternoon at Hollinger Fieldhouse.

The Warriors were 39-for-51 at the foul line, setting records for makes and attempts in the Wilson era, as the ninth-year head coach improved to 134-101 to pass Sal Mentesana on the career wins list at ESU. Wilson was an assistant for all of Mentesana's 133 wins over nine seasons from 1987-96.

ESU (9-5, 2-0), the PSAC East preseason favorite, improves to 2-0 in conference play after beating Cheyney 78-75 in overtime in its divisional opener on Wednesday. West Chester (10-4, 1-1) suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to 9-1 at Hollinger, after an impressive 86-74 win at Mansfield on Wednesday night.

The Warriors were 28-for-32 at the line in the second half and 10-for-12 in the final two minutes to keep the Golden Rams at arms length, as they were never closer than six points after the first minute of the second half.

All four Warriors in double figures hit at least eight free throws – Johnson (20 points, 10-for-12), Tobin (14 points, 8-for-13) and senior guards Micah Covert (13 points, 9-for-9) and Mike DeMarco (12 points, 8-for-8). DeMarco made all eight in the last 10 minutes of the game.

Johnson had nine rebounds and Tobin grabbed eight to help ESU outrebound the top rebounding team in the PSAC, 41-35. Tobin also added three steals to his PSAC-leading total and has 40 steals through the season's first 14 games.

The Warriors ran out to an 18-4 lead in the first eight minutes of the first half, holding West Chester to 2-for-12 shooting with five turnovers while opening 7-for-14 from the field. The Golden Rams climbed back into the game, pulling within 23-19 at the 3:21 mark, but a layup by Johnson was the only field goal for either team in the final three minutes and helped ESU hold a 29-22 lead at halftime.

West Chester scored the first points of the second half but a three-point play by Covert, buckets by DeMarco and sophomore forward Terrance King (eight points) and another three-point play by Johnson pushed the Warriors' lead back to double figures (40-27) less than 2:30 into the period.

Meanwhile, ESU's defensive effort held West Chester to 23.6 percent shooting (9-for-38) through the first 27 minutes before the Golden Rams went 15-for-22 down the stretch, but they were unable to make a dent in the scoreboard thanks to the Warriors' sterling performance at the foul line.

ESU's 52-36 lead with 10:38 left was its largest of the second half. Shannon Givens scored 18 of his 22 points after intermission, including 11 in the next five-minute stretch to get West Chester within 58-52, but Tobin and DeMarco combined for the Warriors' next eight points and junior forward Eric Bryan (nine points) hit back-to-back jumpers to push the lead back to 13 at 70-57.

Tobin's dunk on an assist from Bryan with 1:38 left was ESU's only field goal in the final two minutes as Covert was 4-for-4, Johnson 3-for-4, DeMarco 2-for-2 and Tobin 1-for-2 at the line to thwart any comeback.

There were 61 total fouls in the game, 37 on West Chester and 24 on ESU, and six technical fouls, four on the Golden Rams. Five West Chester players fouled out while two Warriors finished the game with four fouls.

ESU has won the last three meetings with West Chester in games that have featured a total of 238 free throw attempts. In all three games, the Warriors opened a double-figure lead in the second half before a parade to the charity stripe in the last five minutes.

Last year, there were 77 combined free throws in the second half in ESU's 89-78 win at home, and the Warriors were 35-for-39 for the game and 16-for-17 in the second half in an 88-74 win at West Chester.

ESU faces two more tough road tests next week, traveling to Mansfield (9-5, 1-1) on Wednesday and Kutztown (9-5, 2-0) on Saturday. The Mounties and Golden Bears were the only teams to beat ESU in their own building last season as the Warriors went 10-4 to win a share of their first PSAC East regular season championship since 1992.