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EAST STROUDSBURG – Senior forward Mike Tobin knocked down a 17-foot jumper to give East Stroudsburg University the lead with 1:24 left, and the Warriors forced turnovers on Kutztown's final two possessions for a crucial 69-68 win in PSAC East men's basketball on Saturday afternoon at Koehler Fieldhouse.

The Warriors overcame a 13-point first half deficit, using an 11-1 run in just under two minutes to get back in the game spanning the first and second halves, and there were nine lead changes and seven ties down the stretch before ESU prevailed.

ESU (13-11, 6-6) moves into a three-way tie with Bloomsburg and Cheyney for third in the PSAC East with two games to play after Cheyney won at Bloomsburg, 83-81. Kutztown (16-8, 8-4) falls a game behind Mansfield at the top of the standings. The Warriors host Bloomsburg on Wednesday and finish the regular season at Shippensburg next Saturday.

Neither team led by more than four points over the final 18:40 of the contest, and Tobin's jumper answered a three-pointer by Julius Gray that put Kutztown ahead 68-67 with 2:08 remaining. Eric Brennan had a steal and was fouled on ESU's next possession but missed both free throws, and Tobin drilled a jumper with 10 seconds left on the shot clock to give the Warriors the lead.

The Warriors produced two of their biggest defensive possessions of the season in the final minute. Gray was pressured and stepped on the sideline after the Golden Bears ran the shot clock down inside 10 seconds to turn the ball back over to ESU. Senior guard Micah Covert went to the basket, missed a contested layup and tied up Gray on the rebound, but the possession arrow went back to Kutztown with 21 seconds remaining.

Sophomore forward Duane Johnson's pressure on Nate Edwards in the backcourt forced the Golden Bears to use their final timeout with 8.0 seconds remaining. Devin McBride received the inbounds pass and drove into the lane, where sophomore forward Marcus Brown knocked the ball away and Covert retrieved it in front of the ESU bench, where the Warriors maintained possession after a jump ball.

Gray came away with a loose ball on the inbounds play, but could only manage a contested 50-foot shot that fell well short as ESU got a much-need win going into the final week of the season. The Warriors improve to 10-2 at Koehler Fieldhouse and welcome Bloomsburg for their home finale on Wednesday.

The Warriors received contributions up and down the lineup, with all six starters scoring at least eight points and four reserves combining for 25 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. ESU outrebounded Kutztown 39-33, including 20 on the offensive glass, and held the Golden Bears to 26 points on 6-for-18 shooting in the second half.

Johnson led ESU with 11 points and had six rebounds, three steals, and a block in a team-high 29 minutes. Covert had 10 points, three assists and was 8-for-9 from the foul line, senior guard Mike DeMarco scored nine points, Tobin had eight points and five rebounds, doing all of his scoring in the second half, and sophomore forward Terrance King had six of his eight points in the first three minutes of the second half but was limited to 11 minutes before fouling out.

Off the bench, Marcus Brown had nine points and six rebounds, junior forward Eric Bryan and freshman guard Will Brown had six points apiece and sophomore guard Blair Ramsey had two points, two rebounds and four assists. Marcus Brown scored all nine of his points in the first half, including a three-pointer as time expired, and Ramsey had all four of his assists and provided energy in seven minutes of action in the opening period.

Tamir Johnson had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Kutztown and scored 13 points in the first half as the Golden Bears opened a 41-28 lead with 1:14 remaining. Brown's three-pointer made it 42-33 at halftime, and ESU opened the second half on an 8-1 run. Covert set the tone, earning a trip to the line six seconds into the period, Tobin made it 43-37 with his first points of the game, Johnson and King had blocked shots and King scored the Warriors' next four points to close the margin to two.

ESU tied the game at 45-45 on an offensive rebound and putback by Bryan but wouldn't take its first lead of the game until Will Brown knocked down a three-pointer to make it 52-51 with 13:19 remaining. Brown was just 2-for-7 from the three-point line after ranking second in the conference at 50 percent entering the game, but tied Andy Heimbach's freshman record with 43 three-pointers this season.

Brown's triple touched off the first of nine lead changes to close the game. DeMarco had six points in a four-minute stretch on two layups and a pair of free throws, Johnson had a putback after an offensive rebound and Tobin made two free throws to put ESU in front, 62-58, with 7:24 to play.

Kutztown had its best offensive opportunities at the foul line in the last eight minutes, but was just 3-for-9 down the stretch and 25-for-40 for the game. Edwards made one of two with 2:59 remaining to tie the game at 2:59 before Duane Johnson gave the Warriors the lead with a layup on their next possession.

Gray's three-pointer after an offensive rebound by Edwards put the Golden Bears back in front their next time down, but they wouldn't score again, going 0-for-2 at the line with two turnovers in the last 2:10.

ESU won a battle of attrition that saw 46 total fouls – 26 on ESU and 20 on Kutztown – and 64 free throw attempts. Kutztown shot 62.5 percent at the line (25-40) and attempted 16 more free throws than ESU, but the Warriors converted at a 75.0 percent mark (18-24) and were 11-for-13 in the second half.

Kutztown shot 19-for-44 from the field compared to 23-for-60 for ESU, which owned an eight-rebound advantage at the offensive end. In the second half, ESU was 12-for-32 with 12 offensive rebounds, while Kutztown shot 6-for-18 with five offensive boards and was 12-for-21 at the foul line.

Covert, DeMarco and Tobin will be recognized on Senior Night on Wednesday when the Warriors host Bloomsburg at 8 p.m. The Huskies won the first meeting, 81-80 (OT), on February 2 at Bloomsburg.