Box Score l 2014-15 ESU season outlook

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. - Senior guard Matt Tobin had 16 points and five assists to lead five Warriors in double figures as No. 4-ranked East Stroudsburg University posted a 92-72 win at Lincoln University on the first night of the CIAA/PSAC Challenge on Friday.

Sophomore forward Rasheed Moore scored 14 points, senior guard Whis Grant and junior guard Jamal Nwaniemeka had 11 and redshirt senior guard Will Brown added 10 for the Warriors (1-0), who improved to 47-6 in regular season games since the start of the 2012-13 season.

The Warriors, 30-2 with a PSAC championship and NCAA DII Sweet 16 appearance in 2013-14, opened the season with a national ranking for the first time in program history. ESU was No. 2 in the final NABC DII poll of the regular season last March.

Head coach Jeff Wilson, in his 13th year, earned his 214th career victory, one from ESU's school record of 215 held by Ken Sisson (19 seasons spanning 1963-78, 79-83). Wilson was named the DII Coach of the Year by two organizations in 2014 and earned his second NABC regional COY honor in five years.

Senior forward Lamont Tillery had eight points and nine rebounds and Nwaniemeka had a career-high nine rebounds as ESU outrebounded the Lions, 47-39.

Lincoln, picked second in the CIAA Northern Division, was coming off a 20-9 season.

ESU jumped out to an early 14-3 lead and led by double figures for the last 29 minutes of the game, entering halftime with a 50-28 advantage.

It was a 20-point margin for almost all of the second half with the biggest lead (76-48) coming with eight minutes to play.

The Warriors led DII in turnover margin (+6.97) in 2013-14 and had a +5 margin (20-15) on Friday night.

Grant has 1,498 career points after scoring 11 on Friday night. He entered the season as the third-leading active scorer in DII and can become the fourth 1,500-point scorer in ESU history on Saturday.

Freshman guard Jakwan Jones scored eight points in his ESU debut and sophomore forward Sultan Aminu had seven off the bench.

ESU shot just 41.3 percent and was 5-for-25 from the three-point line, but cracked the 90-point mark in the season opener after going over 90 points in 13 of its 30 wins last winter.

Lincoln shot 38.3 percent (18-for-47) from the field and 56.1 percent (32-for-57) at the foul line. ESU had 28 more shot attempts and Lincoln had 23 more free throw attempts in the contest.

ESU faces Bowie State (1-0), the CIAA North preseason favorite, on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs posted a 76-64 win over Millersville on Friday led by 20 points off the bench by Ahmaad Wilson.


GAME NOTES
* ESU was 20-1 in 2014 when posting a +5 turnover margin.
* 5 turnover margin: 36-3 since 2012-13 ... 56-11 since 2009-10

* ESU improves to 9-2 with a top-5 ranking in the NABC DII poll
* ESU is 17-3 when ranked in the top 10
* ESU is 41-11 when ranked in the top 25

Career wins, ESU head coaches
215 - Ken Sisson
214 - JEFF WILSON

Career points
2218 - Jonathan Roberts (1986-90)
1775 - Don Bones (1976-81)
1556 - Earle Greer (1980-84)
1498 - WHIS GRANT (2011- )