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EAST STROUDSBURG – Junior guard Gerald Bridges, Jr. gave East Stroudsburg University the lead with a three-pointer with 1:19 left, but Marcel Souberbielle rebounded a miss by Ashton Smith and laid it in with 4.2 seconds left to lift No. 14 IUP to a 65-64 win at Koehler Fieldhouse on Friday night.

ESU (5-5, 2-3) just missed knocking off the two-time defending PSAC champion Crimson Hawks (6-1, 4-1) in a meeting of the only two schools to play in the PSAC semifinals the last two years. IUP ended ESU's run in the semifinals both times, including 81-72 last winter, and needed 22 points from Smith and Souberbielle's putback to win its fourth straight in the series.

Bridges scored all of his career-high 13 points in the second half, senior guard Russell Graham III had 17 points and eight assists and freshman guard Whis Grant scored 11 to lead ESU, which fell in the final five seconds at home for the second time this season.

The Warriors used an 8-0 blitz in 37 seconds to turn a 60-53 deficit into a 61-60 lead with 3:53 to play after IUP led for nearly all of the second half. Junior forward Duane Johnson (eight points, six rebounds) had a three-point play with 4:30 left, and after a timeout, IUP turned it over on the inbounds play and Bridges immediately followed with the second of his three three-pointers to get the Warriors within one.

ESU came up with another stop that immediately turned into points when Johnson had a steal and set up freshman guard Matt Tobin for a layup that put the Warriors in front for the first time since the 16-minute mark.

Smith knocked down a three-pointer for his final points with 2:32 left to give IUP a 63-61 lead, and after each team turned it over, Bridges answered late in the shot clock to put the Warriors ahead 64-63 in the final 80 seconds.

IUP's Danny Ayebo missed two free throws with 49 seconds to play, but Graham's layup spun out with 20 seconds left and Julian Sanders controlled the defensive rebound. IUP elected to not call timeout and set up Smith, who missed a 20-foot jumper, but Souberbielle came up with the rebound and go-ahead points with 4.2 seconds remaining.

Graham got a look at the game-winning three-pointer with a second left, but it was off the rim and the Warriors didn't get a chance at a follow as time expired.

ESU was looking for its fourth win over a Top 25 team under 10th-year head coach Jeff Wilson, the ninth in school history and just the third at Koehler Fieldhouse. IUP was ranked No. 20 in a 78-72 home win over ESU last January and was No. 5 when it escaped with a 67-63 win in the 2010 PSAC semifinals at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Neither team led by more than eight points in a game that included eight ties and 11 lead changes – six in the second half. IUP built its biggest margin at 19-11 after a putback by Sanders with 8:23 left in the first half, but the Warriors came back with a 13-3 run that included a three-point play by Grant and another layup to put ESU in front.

IUP went into halftime with a 31-27 lead after scoring the final five points, on a three-pointer by Sanders with 42 seconds left and two free throws by Devante Chance with 0.3 seconds remaining.

Graham set up a layup by Bridges on ESU's first possession of the second half and had a three-point play to tie the game at 32-all, but Smith did most of the scoring as IUP stretched its edge to seven on five occasions before the Warriors' late run.

Smith scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half for IUP and Sanders, another preseason All-PSAC West pick, had just 10 points but added seven rebounds. Chance scored 12 points off the bench and Souberbielle had nine points and eight rebounds.

ESU will have a quick turnaround to host California (5-3, 3-2) on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Vulcans fell 86-77 at Kutztown on Friday night.