Box Score

EDINBORO - Sophomore guard Whis Grant scored 29 points and East Stroudsburg University earned an 85-75 win at Edinboro to give the Warriors (11-2, 8-1) their best-ever start in the PSAC on Saturday night at McComb Fieldhouse.

Senior forward Duane Johnson had 13 points and seven rebounds, sophomore guard Matt Tobin scored 13 and senior forward Terrance King had nine points and nine rebounds, just missing his third straight double-double, as the defending PSAC champions finished crossover play against the PSAC West.

Grant scored 28 points - 23 in the second half - in a 84-72 win at PSAC West leader Slippery Rock on Friday night, and followed up with a 21-point first half as the Warriors led 46-37 at intermission.

ESU used an 18-0 run early in the opening period to seize control and Edinboro never got closer than four points the rest of the way. A 10-0 run got the Fighting Scots within 79-75 with 1:49 left, but Tobin hit a huge three-pointer with 1:23 to play and the Warriors forced three of Edinboro's 22 turnovers from that point to score the final six points of the game.

Bryan Theriot had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Isaiah Prince had 18 points and Johnathan Logan scored 12 to lead Edinboro (9-3, 5-4), which was coming off a 78-77 (2OT) win over Kutztown on Friday.

ESU's five-game winning streak is its longest since putting together streaks of 13 and six games during a 19-1 start to the 2009-10 season. The Warriors have had five streaks of four straight wins in that stretch - including one earlier this year. They are 9-1 in their last 10 games.

The Warriors also improve to 35-9 (.795) in PSAC-mandated games against the PSAC West since the 2006-07 season under head coach Jeff Wilson, who improves to 50 games over .500 (172-122) in his 11th season.

ESU's 18-0 first-half surge - holding Edinboro scoreless for exactly eight minutes - turned an 8-7 deficit into a commanding 25-8 advantage. Six players scored during the stretch, which started with a three-pointer by Tobin and closed with a fastbreak dunk by Johnson just past the midpoint of the first half.

Edinboro came back with a 17-4 run to close within 29-25 with five minutes to play, but the Warriors steadied the ship behind a trio of three-pointers by Grant in a three-minute span to lead by nine (46-37) at halftime.

The Fighting Scots twice pulled within five in the second half, but the Warriors pushed the margin to 11 (62-51) after a pair of buckets by King at the 10-minute mark. The last of Grant's five three's made it 69-58 with 6:31 left, and Grant knocked down three free throws for a 72-60 advantage with 5:38 to play.

Tobin drilled a three and Johnson made four straight free throws to put ESU up 79-65 after the final media timeout, but Edinboro countered with its 10-0 run - including eight in a span of 38 seconds.

But after the Fighting Scots cut it to four, Tobin knocked down a three-pointer from the wing and the Warriors came up with three turnovers in the final 1:14 to put the game away.

ESU was 29-for-39 at the foul line in the game and 16-for-19 in the second half, including its first 13 of the period. Johnson was 9-for-10 and Grant went 8-for-9 at the stripe.

Senior guard Blair Ramsey had seven points, senior forward Gerald Bridges counted six points and five rebounds and sophomore forward Lamont Tillery contributed five points and four boards.

ESU continued its PSAC-best turnover margin, going plus-eight (22-14) after recording a 20-7 advantage in Friday's win at Slippery Rock. Edinboro had 16 turnovers in the first half.

The Warriors are in the middle of a four-game road trip, which concludes next week with trips to Mansfield on Wednesday and Kutztown on Saturday.


GAME NOTES
* ESU's five-game winning streak includes wins over Clarion (75-51), IUP (57-55), California (70-62), Slippery Rock (84-72) and Edinboro (85-75)

* ESU's 8-1 start to PSAC play is its best in school history. The Warriors opened 7-1 during the 1991-92 and 2005-06 seasons.

* ESU went 7-1 against the PSAC West this season. The Warriors were 4-4 against the division last year, then went 9-5 against the PSAC East to claim the #4 seed before winning three straight games for the second PSAC championship in school history.

* Wilson is the first ESU head coach to go 50 games over .500 since Lester Crasper, the Warriors first head coach (1926-39). Crasper went 159-78 in 19 seasons - and hit the +50 mark in 1932-33.

* ESU is 139-75 since the start of the 2005-06 season (64 games over .500), including six trips to the PSAC Tournament in those seven seasons. The Warriors are one of two schools (along with IUP) to make the PSAC Final Four in each of the last three years.
* They have also played in the NCAA Tournament twice in the last three years, gaining an at-large bid in 2010 and earning the PSAC's automatic bid in 2012.

* The Warriors are forcing 22.4 turnovers per game (and at least 20 in each game) during their 5-game winning streak. They stand at +8.8 per game during the streak and +5.7 for the season.
* ESU has had a turnover advantage in 10 of 13 games this season.

* ESU enters the final 13 games of the PSAC East schedule with a one-game lead over West Chester (9-4, 7-2) and two-game edge on Millersville (10-5, 6-3). Cheyney (5-8, 3-6) is fourth but ineligible for postseason competition. They are followed by Mansfield (4-9, 2-7), Bloomsburg (4-9, 2-7), Kutztown (3-12, 2-7) and Shippensburg (2-11, 0-9).

* King had 18 points and 12 rebounds vs. California, and 13 points and 10 rebounds at Slippery Rock for his previous two double-doubles.

* Grant was 16-for-33 from the field, 8-for-17 from the 3-point line and 17-for-18 at the foul line in two games this weekend. He averaged 28.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals while playing 64 of a possible 80 minutes.