Box Score

EAST STROUDSBURG - Junior All-America guard Whis Grant had 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals as No. 17-ranked East Stroudsburg University continued its unbeaten start with a 96-68 win at Millersville on Saturday afternoon at Puccillo Gymnasium.

Sophomore guard Jamal Nwaniemeka scored 17 points, redshirt junior guard Will Brown had 14 and freshman forward Rasheed Moore had 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for his second straight double-double for ESU (8-0, 4-0).

The Warriors shot 13-for-22 from the three-point line, 50.7 percent overall from the field and had just 10 turnovers. They made more than half of their three's in both halves, hitting 7-of-12 in the first and 6-for-10 in the second.

ESU's 8-0 start is its third best in the last 70 years. The Warriors have scored 79+ points in all eight games, doubling their previous best stretch to open a season of four (1960-61), and are averaging a PSAC-high 90.9 points per game.

Grant, last year's PSAC East Athlete of the Year as a sophomore, continued his hot start to divisional action, as the Warriors head into a stretch of six straight games against PSAC West opponents.

He has scored 100 points in ESU's 4-0 divisional start - becoming the second Warrior in 12 years under head coach Jeff Wilson to score 20+ in four straight games - with 23 against Mansfield, 29 at Kutztown, 24 vs. Lock Haven and 24 at Millersville. He averaged 14.0 points in four non-conference wins.

Moore, coming off a historic 20-point, 16-rebound game in a 102-87 win over Lock Haven, is the first ESU freshman with consecutive double-doubles in Wilson's tenure. He's second behind Grant with 13.8 points per game, leads ESU with 7.4 rebounds per game, is shooting 58.0 percent and has scored in double figures in all eight games.

Grant was 5-for-6 from the three-point line, Brown was 4-for-7 and Nwaniemeka 3-for-5, combining for 12 of ESU's 13 three-pointers.

Grant, junior guard Matt Tobin (nine points, four assists) and Brown all hit three's within just over a minute early in the second half, as the Warriors extended a 47-38 halftime lead to 60-43 with 16:25 remaining.

Millersville (2-4, 1-2), coming off an 86-85 win over PSAC East favorite West Chester on Wednesday, had three double-figure scorers with two off the  bench in Jalen Lester (14) and Anthony Coleman (10). Josh Jones had 11.

The Marauders tried to keep pace in the first half, rallying from a 43-25 deficit with 3:44 left in the first half to get within 47-38 at halftime. They were 6-for-15 from the three-point line in the first half, but just 1-for-12 after intermission.

ESU's next action will come at Slippery Rock on Tuesday, December 17 after a 10-day break for finals. The Rock, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament and knocked ESU out of the PSAC Final Four last year, has opened with a 7-2 overall record and is 3-1 against the PSAC West.

The Warriors are at Edinboro on December 18, and return home to host Mercyhurst on Saturday, December 21.

ESU's next PSAC East action will come on Saturday, January 11 at 3 p.m. against Shippensburg. The Warriors can match their best-ever PSAC start (5-0 in 2005-06) with a victory.


GAME NOTES
* ESU moved up six spots in this week's NABC DII poll to No. 17 after remaining idle last week. The Warriors' ranking of No. 23 on November 26 was their earliest in school history.

* ESU has been ranked eight weeks since January 29, 2013 – after being ranked for seven total weeks in school history prior to that point.

* The Warriors' 8-0 start is their 3rd-longest in 70 years. They opened 13-0 in 2009-10 and 10-0 in 1971-72.

* ESU improved to 15-3 against the PSAC East since the start of last season. The Warriors were 18-4 in conference games (11-3 vs. PSAC East) in earning the division's regular season title last year.

* Grant moved into ESU's top 20 in career scoring, ranking 19th with 1,081 points.  He scored his 1,000th career point on November 20 vs. Mansfield, becoming the 3rd junior in school history to reach the 1,000 point mark.
* Grant moved up 4 spots on Saturday, passing George Fields (1,078), Kevin Morrissey (1,076), Shahad Abdur-Rahkman (1,075) and Chris Diller (1,073).

* Grant (24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) is first ESU player with at least 20-6-6 in a game under Wilson (since 2002-03).

* Wayne Bishop (2002-03) was the last Warrior to score 20+ in four straight games - 25 vs. Malone, 23 vs. Bridgewater, 29 vs. Felician and 44 vs. Shippensburg.

* In Wednesday's win over Lock Haven, Moore (20 points, 16 rebounds) was the first ESU freshman with 15+ rebounds in a game since 3-time All-America Jonathan Roberts did it twice in 1986-87.
* Moore has 2 of the 4 double-doubles by an ESU freshman under Wilson. Others are Terrance King (2009-10) and Andy Heimbach (2006-07).

* ESU led the PSAC with 78.0 points per game last season. The Warriors have scored 79+ in all 8 games this year, averaging 90.9 ppg.
* Grant (19.5 ppg), Moore (13.8), Nwaniemeka (11.1) and Brown (10.3) are all averaging double figures. Only Grant played on last year's team - Moore is a freshman, Nwaniemeka is a transfer from Rider, and Brown missed the last 2 years due to injury.

* ESU lost its 7th- and 8th- all-time leading scorers from last year's team in Duane Johnson (1,347) and Terrance King (1,337), who combined for 2,684 career points.

* ESU had a +6 turnover margin (16-10) against Millersville. When the Warriors have a +5 advantage or greater, they are:
* 5-0 this year
* 20-2 the last 2 years
* 40-10 since the start of the 2009-10 season