Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG – Sophomores Terrance King and Blair Ramsey both scored six points in a 12-0 run late in the game as East Stroudsburg University beat Shippensburg, 68-61, in the regular season finale at Heiges Field House for its third straight win entering next week's PSAC Tournament.

Sophomore forward Marcus Brown had 11 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double and Ramsey and senior guard Mike DeMarco scored 10 points each for the Warriors (15-11, 8-6), who put together a three-game winning streak for the first time since early December as they get ready for their fifth PSAC tournament in six years.

ESU will be the No. 3 seed and travel to No. 2 Kutztown (16-10, 9-5), which posted an 82-66 win over Millersville on Saturday, for their quarterfinal match-up on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The two schools split their meetings this season, with Kutztown winning 85-82 at home on January 22 and ESU returning the favor, 69-68, on February 19 at Koehler Fieldhouse to kick off its three-game streak to end the regular season.

One game after putting all five starters in double figures in an 83-64 win over Bloomsburg, the Warriors had three starters score nine points each – King, senior forward Mike Tobin and sophomore forward Duane Johnson – to go with DeMarco's 10 points and five from senior guard Micah Covert. Tobin added six rebounds, a team-high four assists and two steals and finished the game with exactly 500 career rebounds.

The bench came up with 26 points led by Brown, who had seven points and seven rebounds in the first half, and Ramsey, who scored nine of his 10 points in the second half and had a career-high four steals. Brown, the PSAC's top freshman rebounder last season with 5.0 per game, surpassed his previous career-high of 10 boards and scored in double figures for the first time since getting 10 in an 88-86 (OT) win over Mercyhurst on January 4.

There were eight ties and 13 lead changes – eight in the second half – in a back-and-forth game that wasn't decided until the Warriors scored 12 straight points in a three-minute stretch to go ahead 66-56 with 2:18 remaining.

Ramsey had a steal and set up a dunk by King for the final points of the run, which started with King's jumper from the top of the key that tied the game at 56-all with 5:19 remaining. Tobin had two steals and three assists in the run, leading to the go-ahead layup by King and two fast break layups by Ramsey, and Ramsey also knocked down two free throws during his career-high output.

Shippensburg (9-17, 4-10) made it 66-59 on a layup by senior Jaren Gembe with 35 seconds left, but Jordan Stasyszyn missed a three-pointer after an ESU turnover and DeMarco made two free throws to reach double figures with 13 seconds remaining.

Neither team led by more than five points for the first 30 minutes of the contest until Tobin had an offensive rebound and putback to give ESU a 51-45 advantage. Brown answered two Shippensburg free throws with his final bucket, but Shippensburg scored the next seven points, starting with a three-pointer by Craig Van Scyoc and finishing with a layup by Will Royal, that put the Red Raiders in front 54-53 at the eight-minute mark.

The run reached 10-1 after a pair of free throws by Dylan Edgar, but King hit a big jumper for ESU's first field goal in four minutes and had a steal that led to his go-ahead layup to jumpstart the game-deciding run.

Royal led Shippensburg with 15 points and six rebounds, Van Scyoc had 11 points and Edgar had 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Gembe added eight points and six assists, but the PSAC's top three-point shooting team (42.4 percent) hit just 3-of-13 from beyond the arc. Van Sycoc was 3-for-5 from downtown and finished the year with a PSAC-best 50.4 percent (63-125), while ESU freshman Will Brown didn't attempt a three and is second at 48.4 percent (45-93).

Mansfield (18-8, 10-4) enters next week's tournament as the No. 1 seed in the PSAC East and hosts No. 4 Cheyney (18-8, 8-6), which clinched its spot with a 76-67 home win over Mansfield on Saturday. ESU won a tiebreaker with Cheyney for the No. 3 seed thanks to its season sweep of the Wolves for the second straight year.

In the PSAC West, defending champion IUP (21-5, 12-2) is the top seed after beating No. 2 seed Mercyhurst (20-6, 11-3), 55-46, on Saturday night. Slippery Rock (19-9, 9-5) is No. 3 and California (15-11, 8-6) is No. 4. ESU played all four of the PSAC West tournament teams this year, beating Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock at home and falling to IUP and California on the road.

The top remaining seed in the PSAC West after the quarterfinals will host the PSAC Final Four on March 4-5.