Box Score / Photo Gallery

EAST STROUDSBURG – Seniors Micah Covert, Mike DeMarco and Mike Tobin led six players in double figures as East Stroudsburg University clinched its fifth PSAC men's basketball playoff berth in six seasons with an 83-64 win over Bloomsburg on Senior Night at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Covert led the Warriors with 14 points, DeMarco had a season-high 13, Tobin added 11 points and six rebounds and sophomore forwards Duane Johnson (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Terrance King (12 points, 11 rebounds) both posted double-doubles to give the Warriors all five starters in double figures for the first time since 2005.

Freshman guard Will Brown added 11 points off the bench as the sixth double-figure scorer and set ESU's freshman record with 45 three-pointers this season. The Warriors (14-11, 7-6) finish the regular season on Saturday at Shippensburg (9-16, 4-9).

Mansfield (18-7, 10-3) won the PSAC East regular season title with an 86-74 win over second-place Kutztown (15-10, 8-5) on Wednesday. ESU and Cheyney (17-8, 7-6) are tied for third with Bloomsburg (10-15, 6-7) a game back. Cheyney hosts Mansfield, Kutztown hosts Millersville and Bloomsburg is at West Chester on Saturday.

ESU earned the split of the season series with Bloomsburg and would win a three-way tiebreaker if ESU, Bloomsburg and Cheyney finish tied for third in the conference with 7-7 records. ESU has a combined 3-1 record against the two teams, Bloomsburg was 2-2 and Cheyney went 1-3.

If ESU and Bloomsburg finish tied for fourth at 7-7 behind Cheyney, ESU would win due to the following scenario: they split the season series, both schools are 0-2 vs. Mansfield and 1-1 vs. Kutztown, and ESU was 2-0 vs. Cheyney and Bloomsburg was 1-1.

There is one scenario that would allow ESU to move to the No. 2 seed and host a quarterfinal game on Tuesday night. If ESU, Kutztown and Cheyney finish tied for second at 8-6, ESU would win the tiebreaker with a 3-1 record against the two schools, while Kutztown is 2-2 and Cheyney 1-3.

The Warriors also earned their sixth straight winning season, the longest streak since the first 12 years of the men's basketball program from 1927-38, thanks to the play of their three seniors who were all key players on last year's PSAC East regular season champion and NCAA Division II Tournament team.

Covert, DeMarco and Tobin led the Warriors to open both the first and second halves, scoring 11 points in a 16-8 run to open the game and every point in a decisive 9-0 spurt to start the second stanza after leading 36-26 at intermission.

Tobin had a tip-in of a missed shot by King after a defensive rebound at the other end, Covert knocked down two free throws, DeMarco drilled a three-pointer on an assist from Tobin and Covert went to the bucket for a layup to put ESU ahead 45-26 with 150 seconds elapsed in the second period.

Bloomsburg wouldn't get closer than 15 the rest of the way and ESU weathered a quick 5-0 run after Brown converted a three-point play that gave the Warriors a 52-31 lead, their largest of the game, with 12:58 remaining. The Huskies came back from a 22-point deficit in the final 12 minutes of an 81-80 (OT) win in the first meeting, but the Warriors were diligent with the ball, turning it over just 13 times, and shot 18-for-22 at the foul line in the second half to seal the victory.

Tobin was the final Warrior to reach double figures, throwing down a right-handed dunk with 52 seconds left on an assist from King as ESU broke Bloomsburg's full court press. The last time ESU had all five starters in double figures was January 24, 2005 against Millersville with the quintet of Ryan Sweet, Danny Hargrove, Rob Georges, Anthony Ross and Sky Williams-Quinones.

The night began with Senior Night festivities, and ESU opened their 16-8 lead after a driving layup by Tobin just under six minutes into the game. DeMarco scored five points and Covert had four points and two assists during the run, which also included a three-pointer by Johnson.

A dunk by Johnson on a lob from sophomore guard Blair Ramsey over the Bloomsburg zone gave the Warriors an 18-10 lead, and they opened a double-figure advantage (21-10) on a three-pointer by Brown just before the second media timeout. DeMarco hit a 30-footer from the right wing as the shot clock expired for the largest lead of the first half (31-17) with 4:19 on the clock.

ESU had 17 assists on 26 field goals and shot 46.4 percent from the field, 50 percent (9-for-18) from the three-point line and 81.5 percent (22-for-27) at the foul line. Bloomsburg shot 43.5 percent overall but was just 2-for-13 from long distance and 8-for-15 at the stripe as the Warriors held an opponent under 68 points for the first time since a 73-58 win over Slippery Rock on January 4.

The Warriors also won back-to-back games for the first time since beating Cheyney and West Chester on January 12 and 15 to open the PSAC East schedule.

ESU's three seniors, all among the top six scorers on last year's 24-6 team that went to the NCAA Division II Tournament, all had key contributions as they finished their home careers at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Covert added five assists to go with his team-high 14 points, shooting 4-for-8 from the field and 6-for-7 at the foul line. He hit double figures for the fourth straight game, going 20-for-26 from the foul line, and the eighth time in 15 PSAC East games.

DeMarco's 13 points came on 5-for-9 shooting, including a 3-for-4 mark from three-point range. He is averaging 9.0 points over the last five games, one of his best stretches of the season, after converting to point guard before the start of the conference schedule and has 93 three-pointers and 695 points in 109 career contests.

Tobin had 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block and hit a pair of milestones for steals for the Warriors. He entered the game ranked second in the PSAC with 2.3 steals per game and has 57 steals this season, tied for ninth in school history with Jonathan Roberts' junior season in 1988-89, and 122 in his career, tying teammate Robby Pines for 10th on the all-time list.

A two-year starter, Tobin is six rebounds away from 500 in his career and has scored 769 points entering the regular season finale. He also knocked down his 25th career three-pointer and has 24 career blocks and 115 assists as one of the most versatile players to wear a Warrior uniform.

Bloomsburg was led by Dontahe Jordan, a six-time PSAC East Freshman of the Week, who had 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Trevon Johnson added 18 points and Lorenzo Christmas had eight points but was just 3-for-13 from the field and 0-for-8 from the three-point line. The Huskies' starters scored all but five of their 64 points.

ESU had 20 bench points, getting contributions from Will Brown (11), junior forward Eric Bryan (four points, three rebounds), sophomore forward Marcus Brown (three points, two rebounds) and Blair Ramsey (two points, two assists).

ESU's five PSAC playoff appearances in six years are the second-most in the PSAC East behind Kutztown, which has made the tournament every year in that span. Cheyney can also make it five of the last six years with an appearance this season. IUP leads the PSAC West with five trips since 2005-06.

The Warriors and Shippensburg will finish the regular season on Saturday at Shippensburg's Heiges Field House. The quarterfinals of the PSAC tournament will be held on Tuesday, March 1 at the top two seeds in both divisions.

Notes: Will Brown's 45 three-pointers break Andy Heimbach's freshman record of 43 set in 2006-07 . . Heimbach set ESU's career record with 236 three's and holds the single season record with 76 . . Brown is second in the PSAC in three-point percentage (48.4, 45-93) and is shooting 51.6 percent (32-62) vs. the PSAC East . . Terrance King had his third double-double of the year and fourth of his career . . he blocked two shots, giving him 52 for the season, and is second in the PSAC with 2.1 per game . . Duane Johnson had his second double-double of the year and had 25 points and 9 rebounds in the first game at Bloomsburg . . this is the second time ESU has had two players with double-doubles (Johnson, Tobin vs. Edinboro, Dec. 3).