Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG – Charleston opened a 19-point halftime lead and held off an East Stroudsburg University run in the middle of the second half for a 74-66 win in non-conference men's basketball on the second day of the Wolf's Bus Lines Tournament at Shippensburg on Sunday afternoon.

Marco Richardson scored 18 points and P.J. Reyes had 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead four players in double figures for Charleston (2-0), which was picked third in the WVIAC preseason poll and edged Shippensburg, 81-78 (OT), on Saturday night.

Junior forward Duane Johnson had 11 points and eight rebounds for ESU (0-2) and freshman guard Whis Grant scored 11 points after going for 30 in a 96-92 loss to No. 6-ranked West Liberty on Saturday. Senior guard Russell Graham III was also in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds and Graham and Grant, the starting backcourt tandem, both had four assists.

Grant averaged 20.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists over two games and was named to the All-Tournament team along with Reyes, Alex Falk and Cedric Harris of West Liberty and Jordan Stasyszyn of Shippensburg.

Charleston shot 56.7 percent (17-30) in the first half and built a 21-point lead, 40-19, with three minutes left in the period. ESU had just six turnovers in the opening half but shot 26.7 percent (8-30) and saw Charleston post a 26-14 advantage in rebounds, including eight offensive boards.

The Warriors made a dent in the second half, going on a 10-0 run that began with a three-point play by Johnson and included two buckets by freshman guard Matt Tobin to pull within 51-42 with just over 10 minutes left.

Charleston responded with the next four points and eventually opened an 18-point advantage (69-51) with two minutes remaining before the Warriors chipped away with 15 points in the final 120 seconds to close the margin to single-figures.

Johnson (21 points, 10 rebounds) and junior forward Terrance King (18-11) both had double-doubles against West Liberty on Saturday. Johnson didn't attempt a shot in the first half against Charleston and King played just five minutes due to foul trouble before the duo finished with 11 points and eight rebounds and eight points and four rebounds, respectively. Senior forward Eric Bryan added nine points and four boards.

Tobin scored six points and freshman forward Lamont Tillery had six points and five rebounds while both playing 18 minutes. Freshman center Kevin Anema saw his first career action and had two points and a rebound in three minutes.

ESU opens its home schedule at Koehler Fieldhouse on Tuesday at 7 p.m. with a non-conference game against PSU-Schuylkill.

PSAC action in the expanded 22-game conference schedule begins next weekend with home games against Gannon on Saturday and Clarion on Sunday. Both games begin at 3 p.m.