Box Score / Radio Broadcast

INDIANA, Pa. – Darryl Webb had 27 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks and Julian Sanders added 24 points to lead defending PSAC champion IUP to an 81-72 win over East Stroudsburg University in the PSAC semifinals on Friday night at Memorial Field House.

IUP (23-5) advances to play Slippery Rock in the championship game on Saturday night after coming back from a 12-point halftime deficit for an 82-73 win over Cheyney in the first semifinal. The Crimson Hawks have won four PSAC championships since 2000 while Slippery Rock is looking for its first title since 1963.

Freshman guard Will Brown (16 points) and sophomore forward Terrance King (14) led four players in double figures for the Warriors (16-12), who cut a 12-point deficit to two with a 10-0 run midway through the second half but were held off by the Crimson Hawks, the defending national runner-up.

ESU finishes the season with a 16-12 record and its second straight trip to the PSAC semifinals under head coach Jeff Wilson. Seniors Mike DeMarco (12 points), Mike Tobin (eight points, six rebounds) and Micah Covert (five points, six assists) ended their careers and were leaders on last year's NCAA Division II Tournament team that set the school record with 24 wins.

Webb was 8-for-12 from the field and 11-for-16 at the foul line and Sanders shot 9-for-12 from the floor and 3-for-5 from long distance for IUP, which shot 58.7 percent (27-46) for the game. The Crimson Hawks were 24-for-35 at the foul line while ESU went 11-for-21.

The Warriors got off to a quick start in the second half, scoring the first five points after trailing 36-30 at halftime, but IUP built a 51-39 lead with 13:12 remaining. ESU got back in reach with a 10-0 run sparked by Brown and DeMarco, as Brown hit a jumper and had a steal and a layup around a three-pointer by DeMarco to make the score 51-46. DeMarco had a three-point play on the next possession to get the Warriors within two, then Brown drilled a three-pointer after a three-point play by Webb.

IUP regained control of the game with the next seven points, four by Webb, and the Warriors couldn't get back within seven points over the final nine minutes as Webb (21 points) and Sanders (12) combined for 33 of IUP's 45 points in the second half.

The Crimson Hawks improved to 47-3 at Memorial Field House over the past three seasons and ESU saw its season end in the building for the second straight year. IUP was the host when the Warriors fell to West Virginia State, 89-79, in last year's NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional.

ESU trailed 8-2 and 16-8 in the first half before twice narrowing the margin to one point and finally tying the game at 24-24 on a jumper by Tobin with six minutes left. Will Brown scored five points in the run, sophomore forward Marcus Brown (10 points) banked in a three-pointer and sophomore guard Gerald Bridges, Jr., King and Covert also scored before Tobin tied it.

IUP pulled away late for its six-point halftime lead, scoring seven of the last 10 points capped by a three-point play by Sanders. King scored four of the first five points for ESU in the second half before Webb, Sanders and Ashton Smith answered, and the Warriors could never take the lead.

Webb and Sanders led four players in double figures for IUP and five players accounted for 79 of their 81 points. Smith had 11, Willi Estrella had 10 and Kevin Stewart added seven points and five assists.

Will Brown (16), King (14), DeMarco (12), Marcus Brown (10) and Tobin (8) led the Warriors' balanced scoring effort. ESU shot 42.4 percent, had 20 more field goal attempts than the Crimson Hawks and held a 15-9 advantage in turnovers. The Warriors were whistled for 27 fouls compared to 19 for IUP, and IUP took 14 more free throws.

The Warriors are 108-61 in the last six years under Wilson, which includes five trips to the PSAC playoffs and last year's share of the PSAC East regular season title. Wilson and assistant coach Justin Potts will enter their 10th season on the bench in 2011-12 and have guided ESU to two of its five PSAC semifinal appearances in school history. Wilson was an assistant on the other three semifinalists in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Notes: ESU has averaged 18 wins over the last six seasons ... ESU is 5-12 against IUP including two losses this season (78-72 at IUP in regular season) ... IUP won last year's PSAC semifinal, 67-63 ... the Warriors had won three straight against IUP before dropping the last three meetings ... ESU is 40-18 in the last two years.

Tobin and DeMarco were four-year letterwinners and Covert earned two letters after transferring from Harcum JC ... Tobin is 7th in school history with 62 steals this year and tied for 7th with 127 in his career ... he had 790 points and 509 rebounds, most of those over the last two seasons, when he was ESU's No. 2 scorer and top rebounder ... DeMarco scored 722 points and hit 96 3-pointers in his career ... Covert had 471 points and led ESU with 81 assists this year ... Will Brown's 48 3-pointers are ESU's freshman record and his 3-point percentage (48.0) is the best in school history, ahead of Ro Trachtman's 47.6 percent in 1997-98 ... King is 8th in blocks in a season (54) and 7th for his career (96) through two seasons ... Johnson was ESU's top scorer with 12.4 ppg this year ... he has 555 points through two years and King has 542.