Box Score

BLOOMSBURG – Larry Webster tipped in a miss by Trevon Johnson with 3.2 seconds left to cap a 22-point comeback and give Bloomsburg an 81-80 overtime victory over East Stroudsburg University in PSAC East men's basketball on Thursday night at Nelson Field House.

The Warriors (10-9, 3-4) led 62-40 with 11:31 left before the Huskies (8-11, 4-3) rallied for their second straight comeback to finish the first half of the PSAC East schedule. Bloomsburg scored the final 21 points in a 74-61 win over West Chester on Saturday.

In a game that was reminiscent of the Warriors' 15-point comeback in the final 7:30 in last year's 101-96 (2OT) win at Bloomsburg, Lorenzo Christmas hit the game-tying three-pointer with 43.1 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 71-71 to complete the Huskies' rally. Senior forward Mike Tobin missed a contested shot at the other end and Christmas' bid for the game-winning three-pointer was off the mark to send the game to overtime.

In the extra session, Trevon Johnson and senior guard Micah Covert traded three-pointers before the Warriors retook the lead on a bucket by sophomore forward Duane Johnson, who scored a career-high 25 points. Webster dunked a lob from Trevon Johnson to retie the game before Tobin drilled a foul line jumper to put ESU ahead 78-76 just over halfway into the overtime period.

Webster gave Bloomsburg a 79-78 lead with another dunk on an assist from Christmas with 1:30 left to set up a wild finish. ESU held the ball for all but 15 of the final 90 seconds of overtime and had two offensive rebounds before sophomore guard Blair Ramsey hit a driving layup with 13 seconds remaining. Trevon Johnson ran the ball back up the floor for the Huskies and missed at the rim, but Webster followed and Ramsey's 35-foot three-pointer hit the rim as time expired.

ESU held a double-figure lead from the 14:30 mark of the first half until Bloomsburg pulled within 66-58 with six minutes remaining in regulation. In between, the Warriors built a 41-25 halftime lead, went ahead by 20 for the first time on a three-pointer by Covert four minutes into the second half, and took their largest lead of the game on a triple by Duane Johnson at the 11:30 mark before Bloomsburg finished the second half on a 31-9 run.

The Huskies cut the deficit to 66-60 with 5:31 on the clock before the Warriors went back in front by nine on a three-point possession as Tobin split a pair at the line and Duane Johnson had a putback after the initial offensive rebound by junior forward Eric Bryan. Trevon Johnson answered with a jumper for Bloomsburg to make it 69-62 with 3:09 left, and neither team scored again until Jordan made a jumper to trim the lead to five with 1:32 remaining.

Johnson had a steal and set up a layup by Webster to get Bloomsburg within three, then made it 69-68 when Webster scored again off a steal by Christmas with just over a minute to play. Ramsey went 2-for-2 at the line to put ESU back up by three before Christmas forged the game's first tie with his three-pointer to get the game to overtime.

Duane Johnson scored 14 of his career-high 25 points in the first half for ESU, which shot 53 percent in the first half and 47 percent for the game but had 17 of its 22 turnovers in the final 25 minutes. Covert hit three three-pointers on his way to 11 points, Tobin had nine points and eight rebounds and sophomore forward Terrance King posted eight points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Johnson also had nine rebounds, six on the offensive end.

Webster (21 points, 14 rebounds), Jordan (21 points, 15 rebounds) and Trevon Johnson (18 points) carried the scoring load for Bloomsburg. Webster had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the second half and overtime, Jordan had 13 points and 12 boards in the same time frame and the duo combined for 18 of the Huskies' 31 offensive rebounds. Bloomsburg held a 53-40 advantage on the glass while shooting 36 percent (32-for-88) from the field.

ESU, the PSAC East preseason favorite, opens the second half of the conference schedule in a three-way tie for fourth place with Cheyney and Millersville and heads to Cheyney on Saturday for a critical game for both teams. ESU won the first meeting in overtime, 78-75, on January 12 at Koehler Fieldhouse and trails Kutztown (6-1), Mansfield (5-2) and Bloomsburg (4-3) in the conference standings.