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Pocono Record: Warriors ready for semifinals

ESU:   Schedule  l  Statistics  l  Roster  l  PSAC Stats
SRU:   Schedule  l  Statistics  l  Roster

EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University will play in its fourth straight PSAC Final Four as the Warriors continue the defense of their 2012 PSAC men's basketball championship against Slippery Rock in the semifinals on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at IUP's Kovalchick Center.

Three of the schools from last year's Final Four return in defending champion ESU, IUP and West Chester. Slippery Rock replaces Mercyhurst, who ESU edged in last year's semifinal, as the PSAC West's second representative.

The Warriors (22-5) and Rock (21-7) will meet in the first of two semifinals. In the other, host IUP (22-5) takes on West Chester (20-7) in a rematch of last year's semifinal won by West Chester, 54-51. The championship game will be played on Saturday at 7 p.m.

A two-day pass which includes tickets for all three games is $16 for adults and $7 for students. Tickets to Saturday's championship game are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Only PSAC passes will be accepted and there will be no complimentary ticket list. Students with a valid ID from a PSAC institution will be admitted free all weekend.

Tickets can be purchased from ComcastTix by calling (800) 298-4200, or online at www.ComcastTIX.com.

ESU, the PSAC East regular season champion, advanced with a 102-74 win over Mansfield on Tuesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse. West Chester had a 73-62 win over Millersville, Slippery Rock rallied for a 62-58 (OT) win at Gannon, and PSAC West champ IUP edged Edinboro, 89-87 (OT).

The Warriors will attempt to become the third school in 30 years to repeat at PSAC champion. IUP won in 2010-11, and Edinboro repeated in 2005-06.

ESU and IUP are just the eighth and ninth schools to make four straight Final Fours in the last 30 years. Edinboro did it most recently from 2005-08.

Last year, ESU won two road games and a neutral site game to become the first No. 4 seed to win the PSAC title since 1991.

After a home game in the quarterfinals, the Warriors will be back on the road in their championship defense.

ESU and the Rock have met three times in the postseason, including back-to-back times in the PSAC semifinals in 1990 and 1991. Slippery Rock won 77-63 in 1991 after the Warriors won two meetings in 1990, both in overtime.

ESU head coach Jeff Wilson, the PSAC East Coach of the Year for the second time in four seasons, was an assistant coach under Sal Mentesana when ESU won 103-102 at No. 2-ranked Slippery Rock in the semifinals before upending Millersville, 108-102 (2OT), for the first PSAC championship in school history.

They met again in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament at Mercyhurst, with ESU triumphing again in an extra session, 99-98, behind 34 points and 13 rebounds from three-time PSAC East Athlete of the Year Jonathan Roberts.

The Warriors bring the reigning PSAC East Athlete of the Year into this year's match-up as well in sophomore guard Whis Grant, who had 19 of his 21 points in the first half and eight in a 22-0 run in Tuesday's win over Mansfield.

Grant had 23 of his 28 points in the second half of an 84-72 win at Slippery Rock on January 11, when the Warriors gained some separation with a 12-2 run midway through the final period and held off the Rock down the stretch.

Senior forward Terrance King, last year's PSAC Tournament MVP (22.3 points, 11.3 rebounds) and an All-PSAC East first team selection, had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first meeting. Senior forward Duane Johnson, who was named All-PSAC East for the third time, also scored 13 for the Warriors.

ESU is looking for the third PSAC championship in school history, following titles in 1990 and 2012. The Warriors are in the postseason for the seventh time in eight years.

Slippery Rock, in the Final Four for the third time in five seasons under head coach Kevin Reynolds, was the runner-up in 2011, falling 82-75 in the final at IUP. The Rock won its only PSAC championship in 1963.

West Chester has waited even longer, going back to 1959, but is back in the Final Four for the second season under head coach Damien Blair after hosting last year. ESU came away with a 90-85 win in the title game.

IUP, under seventh-year head coach Joe Lombardi, has won five PSAC titles since 2000 and eight in school history. Lombardi led the Crimson Hawks to back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011, advancing past ESU in the semifinals both seasons.


NOTES
* ESU is ranked No. 19 and IUP is No. 13 in this week's NABC Division II Coaches Poll
* ESU is ranked No. 6, IUP is No. 3 and West Chester is No. 9 in the NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings, released Wednesday. The top 8 schools will be selected for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 10:30 p.m. The PSAC Tournament champion receives an automatic bid.
* The Warriors have played in the NCAA Tournament in 2 of the last 3 years - 2010 (at-large) and 2012 (automatic).

* ESU is 1-0 against Slippery Rock (W 84-72, away, Jan. 11), 1-0 against IUP (W 57-55, home, Jan. 4), and 1-1 against West Chester (W 87-77, away, Feb. 2 - L 83-76, home, Feb. 23).

* ESU was 18-4 against PSAC schools in the regular season - 13-3 against teams that qualified for the tournament (losses at Millersville, Shippensburg and vs. West Chester), and 5-1 against teams that did not qualify (loss to Lock Haven).
* The Warriors were 6-0 against PSAC West schools that qualified.


TEAM STATS
* ESU leads the PSAC in scoring (79.0 ppg), turnover margin (+5.2) and turnovers forced (20.2) per game. The Warriors have been ranked in the top 10 in Division II in turnover margin for most of the season.
* Warriors are also 2nd in PSAC in steals (10.2) and 3-pointers made (7.0), 4th in 3-point percentage (34.7), 4th in blocks (4.5), 3rd in offensive rebounds (14.4) and 5th in rebounding margin (+3.0) per game.

* Slippery Rock leads Division II in rebounding margin (+12.5) and leads the PSAC in offensive rebounds (17.1) per game. SRU is also 2nd in DII and 1st in the PSAC in field goal defense (36.9).
* They are 2nd in blocks (4.6) and free throw percentage (74.9). They are 16th (last) in turnovers forced (12.7) and 12th in turnover margin (-2.1).

* ESU (+12.0) and Slippery Rock (+10.0) are 2 of the 3 PSAC schools with a +10.0 scoring differential for the season. ESU is 1st in scoring (79.0) and 6th in scoring defense (67.1), and SRU is 5th in scoring (73.1) and 4th in scoring defense (63.0).

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
* So. G Whis Grant is 6th in the PSAC in scoring (17.5 ppg), 2nd in 3-point percentage (40.9), 4th in 3-pointers per game (2.5) and 6th in steals (1.9).
* Sr. F Terrance King is 1st in field goal percentage (58.1), 3rd in blocks (1.4) and 9th in rebounding (7.0). He is ESU's 3rd-leading scorer (13.5 ppg).
* Sr. F Duane Johnson is in the PSAC's top 20 in scoring (14.2 ppg), rebounding (6.2), steals (1.6) and blocks (0.8).
* Johnson has led ESU in minutes for 3 straight years, averaging 31.3 this year. He is the program's only player to play 3,000 career minutes in the last 25 years.
* So. G Matt Tobin is 6th in the PSAC and 2nd in the PSAC East in assists (3.7), and 7th in the PSAC and 2nd in the PSAC East in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4) in his first season as starting point guard. He was a backup to Grant at shooting guard last year.

* Johnson and King will play their 117th career games, tied with Todd Painton (1988-92) for the most in school history. They also hold the school record with 10 career postseason games.
* Sr. F Gerald Bridges has played in 108 games overall and 8 postseason games. He hit his 100th career 3-pointer on Tuesday vs. Mansfield.

* Johnson ranks 9th at ESU in career scoring (1,319), 10th in rebounding (595), 4th in steals (147) and 8th in blocks (88).
* King is 10th in scoring (1,315), 7th in rebounding (683) and 10th in PSAC history (3rd at ESU) with 179 blocks.

* Slippery Rock's Devin Taylor is t-15th in the PSAC in scoring (14.0 ppg) and 2nd in rebounds (10.0). He was named All-PSAC West 1st team this week.
* Gerald Brooks (12.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg - 4th in PSAC) was an All-PSAC West 2nd team selection. He is a former all-conference player at IUP.
* Darious Clark (13.3 pg) is 5th in the PSAC in 3-point percentage (35.5).
* Luiz Santos, the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, is 2nd in the PSAC in blocks (1.5) and averages 6.5 rebounds.