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WEST CHESTER – East Stroudsburg University opened the second half with a 19-2 run and advanced to the PSAC championship game for the second time in school history with a 66-58 win over Mercyhurst in the PSAC semifinals on Friday night at West Chester's Hollinger Field House.

Freshman guard Whis Grant scored 18 points, senior forward Eric Bryan had 11 – including seven in the run to open the second – and junior forward Terrance King had nine points and a career-high 15 rebounds for the Warriors (19-11), who advance to play West Chester in the final on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Golden Rams had a 14-point second-half comeback for a 54-51 win over two-time defending champion IUP in Friday's second semifinal. Jon Breeden, a first team All-PSAC East guard, hit a tie-breaking three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left. ESU and West Chester split their two meetings this season, with each school winning on its home floor.

The Warriors are just the third No. 4 seed to reach the PSAC final since 1996 and will attempt to be just the third low seed to win the tournament since 1981. King had a career-high 32 points, including the game-tying three-point play with 6.8 seconds left in regulation, in a 99-91 (OT) win at PSAC East No. 1 seed Kutztown on Tuesday.

ESU will play for its second PSAC championship in school history on Saturday night after reaching the PSAC Final Four for the third straight year. The Warriors started a run of three straight Final Fours with the program's only PSAC title in 1990. Saturday's winner earns the PSAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The Warriors ripped off their run in the first five minutes of the half, turning a 33-25 deficit into a 44-35 lead that they would never relinquish. They outscored the Lakers 41-25 in the second 20 minutes, holding Mercyhurst to 30.0 percent shooting (9-for-30) while hitting at a 41.7 percent (10-for-24) clip and going 18-for-23 at the foul line.

ESU went right to the rim to open the period, getting two free throws from Grant and 1-for-2 from senior guard Russell Graham III (8 points) before Bryan hit the Warriors' first three-pointer of the game to cut their deficit to 33-31 less than 1:30 into the half.

Grant's three-pointer a minute later gave ESU its first lead since the first two minutes. Bryan knocked down a corner jumper for a 36-33 lead before Mercyhurst ended the 11-0 run with two free throws by Bill Weaver. The Warriors added to the surge with the next eight points – including a jumper by Bryan, four free throws by Grant and a huge dunk by King on an assist from junior guard Gerald Bridges, Jr. – for a 44-35 advantage.

Mercyhurst never got closer than five the rest of the way as ESU answered time after time. Bridges knocked down a three-pointer, junior forward Duane Johnson (9 points, 8 rebounds) had an offensive rebound and putback, and freshman guard Matt Tobin made two free throws every time the Lakers got close.

King had another big dunk on a breakaway after a steal by Bryan that ended a four-minute scoring drought for both teams and put ESU in front 49-39 with just over eight minutes left. Tobin's free throws pushed the lead to 53-46 with 5:34 remaining.

Mercyhurst had a three-point play from Luis Leao (18 points, 10 rebounds) to make it 56-51 at the 3:06 mark, but Grant drew a foul and made both as part of a 9-for-9 night at the line – all in the second half.

The Lakers made it a six-point game (59-53) with 1:05 left but were unable to draw closer. Johnson made 1-of-2 for ESU with 48.5 seconds left, and after a missed jumper by Mercyhurst guard Matt Lee, Grant got the ball ahead of the pack, scored and completed the three-point play for a 63-53 advantage with 33.4 seconds left.

Grant, the first freshman to lead ESU in scoring for the season on a playoff team in school history, had 14 of his 18 points in the second half. Bryan (7 points), King (6) and Bridges (6) also did damage after halftime and the Warriors had just four turnovers after turning it over 11 times in the first half.

King's 15 rebounds topped his career-high of 13 that he had set twice and included 12 on the defensive end. He is averaging 20.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in the Warriors' two playoff games this week.

Leao led Mercyhurst with 18 points  and Lee had 11 but was just 4-for-17 from the field after entering as the team's leading scorer with 15.9 per game. Weaver and Andrew Rickard, who had 24 in Mercyhurst's 70-65 win over ESU on December 4, both added nine points.

ESU 10th-year head coach Jeff Wilson, the top assistant on the 1990 PSAC championship team, had his 160th career win to move into sole possession of second on the school's career victories list. Lester Crasper, the program's first coach, won 159 games in 13 seasons from 1926-39.


GAME NOTES
* ESU played its 30th game of the season in the PSAC semifinal. The 2011-12 Warriors are just the fourth team in school history to play 30 games. Two years ago (2009-10), ESU set the school record for wins in a 24-6 season to reach the NCAA Tournament. The 1990-91 team was 19-11 and reached the PSAC semifinals, and the 1989-90 team was 21-13 after winning the PSAC championship and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

* Grant, the Warriors' standout freshman, scored at least 18 points for the 11th time this season. He became ESU's second freshman to score more than 400 points in a season, finishing Friday night with 412 (14.2 per game). He also has freshman records with 53 three-pointers, 105 free throws and 41 steals.

* Johnson, ESU's first team All-PSAC East selection, had 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in a team-high 34 minutes. He drew the assignment of Lee for the most of the night and harrassed MC's top scorer into 4-for-17 shooting from the field.

* Bryan, Johnson and King will all play their 8th career postseason game on Saturday, tied for the most in school history. The Warriors will play their 7th PSAC Tournament game in the last three seasons and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2010, when Bryan was a sophomore and Johnson, King and Bridges were freshmen.

* Bryan played in his 111th career game. He will be tied for 4th in school history with 112 games on Saturday.

* Kutztown (2010) and Slippery Rock (2000) are the only other No. 4 seeds to reach the PSAC final since the current eight-team format was adapted in 1996.

* Shippensburg (1991) and California (1985) are the only lowest-seeded teams to win the title since 1981. Shippensburg was a No. 4 seed and California was a No. 3 seed in a six-team tournament.

* The PSAC East has won just three of the last 15 conference championships - Mansfield in 1997 and Millersville in 2003 and 2007. This is the first All-PSAC East final since 2007, when Millersville beat Cheyney, 79-68. The previous All-East final was 1990, when ESU beat Millersville 108-102 (2OT).