Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG - Redshirt junior guard Will Brown scored 17 of his season-high 19 points in the first half, leading No. 6-ranked East Stroudsburg University (22-1, 12-1) to a 75-57 win at Shippensburg in PSAC East men's basketball on Wednesday night at Heiges Field House.

The Warriors can clinch their second straight PSAC East title, and third in five years, on Saturday against second-place Bloomsburg (14-8, 9-3). The Huskies topped Goldey-Beacom, 94-67, in a non-conference game on Wednesday night.

Sophomore guard Jamal Nwaniemeka scored 15 points, including eight in a 10-0 run midway through the second half that gave the Warriors a 64-47 lead with seven minutes left.

Freshman forward Rasheed Moore scored 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field, and 3-for-3 at the line, coming off his second straight PSAC East Freshman of the Week award and fifth of the season.

Junior guard Matt Tobin, the PSAC's assist leader with 5.8 per game, had nine points, six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. Junior guard Whis Grant and senior forward Zechariah Runkle added eight points each.

Joe Lococo led Shippensburg with 28 points, including 20 in the first half when just two Raiders scored. Jay Hardy had 12 points, with nine in the first half.

Brown scored 17 in the first half to match his season-high, and scored five in the final 25 seconds as the Warriors stretched their lead to 39-29 at intermission.

The lead remained between seven and 13 points until Nwaniemeka knocked down two of his three three-pointers in just over a minute as ESU pulled away.

The Warriors held Shippensburg (2-20, 0-12) to 30.9 percent shooting, with Lococo going 7-for-15 overall, 5-for-7 from the three-point line and 9-for-13 at the foul line.

Brown was 6-for-10 overall and 4-for-7 from long distance for ESU, which committed just eight turnovers. The Warriors were 9-for-32 from the three-point line, a season-high for long-range attempts, and 17-for-30 inside the arc.

ESU matched last year's win total in improving to 22-1. The Warriors were 21-5 in the regular season last year and 18-4 in the PSAC East, finishing a game ahead of West Chester for the third PSAC East title in school history.

ESU's 64 wins in the last three years (20 in 2011-12, 22 the last two years) are its most in school history.

ESU leads the PSAC East by 2.5 games over Bloomsburg (14-8, 9-3), followed by West Chester (16-7, 9-4) and Lock Haven (14-8, 7-5) in the race for the top 4 seeds.

The top seed remaining in the PSAC East after the quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 4 will host the PSAC Final Four on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9.


GAME NOTES

* ESU has won PSAC East titles in 1992, 2010 and 2013. The Warriors have won two conference tournament titles, in 1990 and 2012.

* 19 of ESU's 22 victories have come by double figures. The Warriors were 4th in DII in scoring margin (+19.5) entering the week.

* The Warriors have won 64 games in the last 3 years (64-20), the most in school history. The 1970-71 through 72-73 teams were 63-12.

* The Warriors are 104-38 since the start of the 2009-10 season.
 
* ESU has 9 seasons with 20+ wins. The others came in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1990, 1992, 2010, 2012 and 2013.

* Jeff Wilson, 205-128 in his 12th season, ranks 2nd at ESU in career victories
* Ken Sisson holds the career record with 215, going 215-245 in 19 years (1963-78, 79-83).

* ESU is ranked in the top 10 in DII for the 7th straight week, and the 9th week in program history.

* Grant is 11th at ESU with 1,317 career points. Ed Urie is 10th with 1,329 points (1985-90).

* ESU has won 2 straight since its only loss of the season, 82-80 at Lock Haven on February 6.
* ESU was the final undefeated team in DII this season.
* ESU's 20-game win streak to start the season was the PSAC's longest since 1994-95, when IUP opened 21-0.
* The last PSAC team to go undefeated in the regular season was Cheyney (24-0) in 1965-66.

* ESU ranks 2nd in DII in turnover margin (+8.0) entering the week, and had a 15-8 turnover margin at Shippensburg.
* When holding a turnover margin of +5 or greater, ESU is: 16-1 this year, 31-3 the last 2 years, and 51-11 since the start of the 2009-10 season.