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EAST STROUDSBURG – No. 20-ranked East Stroudsburg University dominated Bloomsburg from start to finish, running away with a 102-44 win over the Huskies and winning the PSAC East regular season title - its third in school history - on Wednesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.

The Warriors (21-5, 18-4), the defending PSAC champions, win the PSAC East outright and will be the division's No. 1 seed in the PSAC Tournament after Cheyney upended West Chester, 92-83. ESU and West Chester entered the night tied for the top spot and the Warriors would have been the No. 2 seed with a West Chester win.

ESU, under 11th-year head coach Jeff Wilson, adds this year's PSAC East title to crowns in 1992 and 2010. Wilson was an assistant coach under Sal Mentesana on the 1992 team.

ESU will be home for the PSAC quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. If the Warriors advance to their fourth straight PSAC Final Four, they will travel to the top remaining seed in the PSAC West.

Five players hit double figures for the Warriors, led by 18 in the second half from freshman forward Wes Cherry. ESU led 46-12 at halftime.

Senior forwards Duane Johnson and Terrance King both scored 13 points and went over the 1,300-point mark in their careers, with 1,304 for Johnson and 1,301 for King. Johnson also moved into ESU's career top 10 in rebounds with 589, passing Lonnie White, a standout on the 1992 team. He also had six assists (all in the first half), one off his career-high.

Sophomore forward Lamont Tillery added 13 points to tie his career-high and sophomore guard Whis Grant had 10 as ESU shot 63.8 percent and was 12-for-24 from the three-point line. The Warriors' field goal percentage is their best against a PSAC opponent since shooting 65.3 percent (32-for-49) in an 83-71 win at California in 2008, and their third-highest overall in 307 games under Wilson.

ESU recognized its five seniors – Gerald Bridges, Dan Clapp, Johnson, King and Blair Ramsey – prior to tip-off. The group has put together an 81-35 record over four years, the most wins in a four-year stretch in school history.

The Warriors opened a 16-3 lead in the first 12 minutes, then ripped off a 19-0 run to stretch their advantage from 23-9 to 42-9 with just under three minutes left in the first half. Bloomsburg's 12 points at halftime are the fewest by a PSAC opponent in a half in 11 years under Jeff Wilson.

The only uneasiness in the second half came as Warriors fans awaited word of the West Chester score at Cheyney. A West Chester victory would have given the Golden Rams the No. 1 seed after they split the regular season series with ESU, winning 83-76 on Saturday at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Cheyney's win came about 15 minutes after ESU finished off the Huskies for its largest margin of victory over a PSAC opponent in school history.

Johnson and King both hit the 1,300-point mark within about eight minutes of game time, with Johnson doing it with six minutes left in the first half and King  hitting the plateau two minutes into the second half.

They are the second set of ESU teammates to score 1,300 career points, joining Jonathan Roberts (2,218) and Ed Urie (1,329), who were classmates on the 1990 PSAC championship team.

King also moved into the top 10 in PSAC history in career blocks with 177, recording one block on Wednesday night. He ranks third in school history behind Roberts (213, 1986-90) and Channon Easley (198, 2004-08).

King is seventh at ESU with 674 career rebounds, followed by Johnson in 10th with 589. Johnson is fourth with 145 steals and eighth with 86 blocks, one of two players (along with Roberts) in the top 10 in both categories.

Bridges had five points, four rebounds and four steals in 18 minutes and hit one three-pointer, giving him 99 in his career. He also moved into 10th at ESU with 107 career games played.

Ramsey had three assists, one rebound, one steal and one block in 10 minutes and Clapp played nine minutes. All 14 Warriors in uniform played at least six minutes and a dozen scored.

Sophomore guard Matt Tobin added eight points, five rebounds and six assists, freshman guard Malcolm Richardson had nine points and redshirt sophomore guard Muhamadou Kaba added six.

Cherry was 6-for-9 from the field, 2-for-3 at the three-point line and 4-for-7 at the foul line for his career-high 18 points. He also had three rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes.

Tillery was 5-for-5 overall and 3-for-3 from three for his 13 points.

Nasir Jones had 10 points and six rebounds off the bench to lead Bloomsburg (8-18, 6-16), which shot 30.6 percent (15-for-49) for the game after going just 4-for-26 (15.4 percent) in the first half. The Huskies were 1-for-16 from the three-point line. Lorenzo Christmas and Wes Lyons scored nine points each.

ESU will play the winner of Saturday's first round game between #4 seed Mansfield (9-17, 7-15) and #5 Bloomsburg in the PSAC quarterfinals on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Koehler Fieldhouse.

West Chester (19-7, 17-5) receives the other first-round bye and hosts the winner of #3 Millersville (18-10, 14-8) and #6 Shippensburg (7-19, 5-17). Cheyney finished 4th in the PSAC East at 14-12 (12-10) but is ineligible for postseason competition. Kutztown finished 5-23 (4-18).

In the PSAC West, IUP and Gannon are the top two seeds and will be off until the quarterfinals. #3 Slippery Rock hosts #6 California, and #4 Edinboro hosts #5 Mercyhurst in the opening round.


GAME NOTES
* ESU ended a 3-game losing streak, which followed a school record-tying 14-game winning streak. The Warriors fell on the road at Shippensburg (87-77) on Feb. 16 and Millersville (79-69) on Feb. 20 before Saturday's 83-76 loss to West Chester.

* The Warriors won the PSAC East outright in 1992, and shared the regular season title in 2010.

* ESU is 13-3 against teams that advanced in the PSAC's new playoff system, taking the top 6 (of 8) in each division. The Warriors were 7-3 against PSAC East schools that advanced (going 1-1 vs. West Chester, Millersville and Shippensburg and 2-0 vs. Mansfield and Bloomsburg). They were 6-0 against PSAC West playoff teams and 7-1 against the West overall, losing only to Lock Haven.

* A win in Tuesday's quarterfinal would put the Warriors in the PSAC Final Four for the fourth straight year. IUP has also made three straight PSAC Final Four's.
* Only 7 teams have made 4 straight PSAC Final Four's in the last 30 years - Bloomsburg (1981-84), Lock Haven (1987-90), IUP (1993-96), California (1992-97 - 6 straight), West Chester (1998-01), Bloomsburg (1998-02 - 5 straight) and Edinboro (2005-08).

* ESU, the defending PSAC champion, will look to become the 3rd team to repeat in the last 30 years. IUP won back-to-back titles in 2010-11 and Edinboro won in 2005-06. Before that, the last school to win two straight was Cheyney in 1982-83.

* The Warriors lost 2 starters off last year's PSAC championship team in point guard Russell Graham III and forward Eric Bryan. Grant, Johnson and King were all returning starters. Johnson and King were named to the All-PSAC East preseason team and the Warriors were picked 1st on 7 of 8 ballots in the PSAC East preseason poll.

* ESU leads the PSAC and ranks 9th in Division II (of 286 schools) in turnover margin at +5.2 entering Wednesday night. The Warriors had a +7 advantage (21-14) against Bloomsburg. ESU also leads the PSAC in turnovers forced with 20.2 per game and is 2nd in steals (10.2 per game).

* Grant finished the regular season as the PSAC's 7th-leading scorer (17.4 ppg) and is ranked 1st in 3-point percentage (40.8, 62-152), 4th in 3-pointers per game (2.5) and 9th in steals per game (1.8).
* King leads the PSAC in field goal percentage (58.4, 136-233), ranks 3rd in blocks (1.4), 8th in rebounding (7.0) and 20th in scoring (13.5), third on the Warriors.
* Johnson is ESU's 2nd-leading scorer (14.1 ppg - 15th in PSAC) and rebounder (6.2 rpg - t-18th in PSAC). He is on pace to lead the Warriors in minutes for the 3rd straight year and has played the most career minutes (3,166) of any ESU player since 1990.

* Johnson and King both played in their 115th career games (of 116 total). Todd Painton played in a record 117 games from 1988-92.
* ESU is 81-35 in the last four seasons - the most wins in a four-year span in school history.

* In the last four years, ESU has won 2 PSAC East titles (2010, 2013), played in 2 NCAA Tournaments (2010, 2012), played in 3 straight PSAC Final Fours (2010-12) and won the PSAC championship in 2012.

* ESU has recorded its 8th 20-win in school history (and 3rd in the last 4 years - 24 in 2009-10, 20 in 2011-12). The Warriors' 21 wins are tied for 3rd-most in a regular season in school history - going 23-4 in 1972-73, 23-4 in 2009-10, 21-5 this year, and 21-6 in 1991-92.

* ESU is the winningest program in the PSAC East in the last 4 years (.698, 81-35) and last 8 years (.656, 149-78) going into next week's PSAC Tournament.

* The Warriors are No. 3 in this week's Atlantic Region rankings. They were No. 4 in the first set of rankings released on Feb. 20.

* ESU is in the NABC DII poll's top 20 for the 5th straight week. The Warriors were ranked No. 9 on Feb. 12, the highest national ranking in school history.