Box Score / Morning Call game recap (Mandy Housenick)

PSAC Final Four information at IUP

KUTZTOWN – Sophomore forward Duane Johnson scored a career-high 26 points to lead East Stroudsburg University back to the PSAC semifinals for the second straight year with an 83-70 win at Kutztown's Keystone Arena on Tuesday night.

Johnson had 17 points and seven rebounds in the first half, including 11 points in a 14-4 run to close the half, as the Warriors led 36-31 at intermission. His only field goal in the second half came with 9:13 left and ended a 7-0 run after Kutztown got within one.

The bucket jumpstarted a key 9-2 run for the Warriors (16-11), who maintained at least a five-point lead the rest of the way. ESU shot 22-for-26 in the foul line in the second half and went 15-for-16 in the final five minutes to seal its first PSAC tournament road win since a 103-102 (OT) victory in the 1990 semifinals at Slippery Rock one game before winning its only PSAC title.

ESU will head to Indiana, Pa. for the PSAC Final Four and will face IUP in the semifinals for the second straight year on Friday night. The defending PSAC champion Crimson Hawks were the only home team in the conference to win on Tuesday, beating California 73-68. Cheyney, which won 77-75 at Mansfield, and Slippery Rock, which won 51-45 at Mercyhurst, will face each other in the other semifinal.

Johnson was 8-for-12 from the field, 10-for-13 at the foul line, grabbed six of his eight rebounds at the offensive end and had a steal and three blocks in an outstanding all-around performance, but he wasn't the only key contributor in ESU's first win at Kutztown since 2004.

All 10 players in the Warriors' rotation scored, with junior forward Eric Bryan (12 points, seven rebounds) and senior guard Micah Covert (10 points, all in the second half) also in double figures. Sophomore guard Blair Ramsey scored seven of his nine points in the second half, including two knifing layups through the Kutztown defense, and sophomore forward Terrance King added seven points before fouling out.

ESU won the game on the glass, posting a 41-31 rebound advantage with 15 offensive boards, and turned the ball over just 14 times compared to 18 for Kutztown. The Warriors had nine steals, including three by senior forward Mike Tobin, the last of which led to a breakaway dunk that gave them a 66-57 lead with just over five minutes left.

The Warriors sealed the game at the foul line from there, making their final 15 attempts, and scored their last dozen points from the charity stripe.

Julius Gray scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half to lead Kutztown (16-11), which played IUP in the PSAC championship game last season.

ESU enters the PSAC semifinals on a season-best four-game winning streak and will be playing in the Final Four for the fifth time in school history. Head coach Jeff Wilson was an assistant when the Warriors won their only PSAC title in 1989-90; they also played in the Final Four in 1991, 1992 and 2010.

IUP won last year's semifinal, 67-63, at ESU's Koehler Fieldhouse and won 78-72 on January 8 in this year's regular season meeting. The Crimson Hawks own the all-time series, 11-5.

Notes: Johnson had his fourth 20-point game of the season, all on the road ... he scored 25 in an 81-80 (OT) loss at Bloomsburg, had 23 at IUP and 20 in an 82-69 win at West Chester ... he also hit 10 free throws at West Chester ... ESU shot 1-for-13 from the 3-point line (7.7 percent), its lowest mark of the season, after hitting at least 40 percent in 8 of the previous 11 games ... their 30 made free throws (30-39) are the second-highest of the season (39-51 at West Chester) ... Covert has scored in double figures in 5 of the last 6 games, going 28-35 at the foul line (80.0 percent) in that stretch ... ESU has outrebounded 9 of its last 12 opponents ... Johnson has more offensive (74) than defensive (61) rebounds this season ... Tobin moved into 7th at ESU in season (62) and career (127) steals ... Fr. G Will Brown didn't hit a 3-pointer for the second straight game, he had made one in 11 straight (8 games with 2+) before last Saturday.