Box Score

CHEYNEY - Junior guard Whis Grant scored 24 points, including a huge step-back three-pointer with 26.4 seconds left, as No. 5-ranked East Stroudsburg University (24-1, 14-1) tied a school record with its 24th victory with an 82-73 win at Cheyney on Saturday afternoon at Cope Hall.

Freshman forward Rasheed Moore added 18 points and junior forward Lamont Tillery had nine points and six rebounds, hitting a three-pointer with five minutes left and converting the go-ahead three-point play with 1:22 remaining.

The Warriors matched their 2009-10 team that finished 24-6 for the most wins in school history. ESU has 20+ wins in four of the last five years.

ESU, which secured its second straight PSAC East title with a 93-77 win over Bloomsburg in its last action last Saturday, led most of the way before Cheyney came back to go ahead 64-63 with six minutes to play.

Tillery gave the Warriors the lead back with a three with 5:01 left and they never trailed the rest of the way. Cheyney pulled even at 72-all on two free throws by Deshawn Curtis (30 points) with 1:44 remaining, before sophomore guard Jamal Nwaniemeka (9 points) found Tillery for a three-point play that gave ESU a 75-72 lead with 1:22 left.

Curtis made one-of-two to get Cheyney within 75-73 before the Warriors scored the final seven points to win it. Grant's three, his fourth of the game, came with five seconds left on the shot clock and gave ESU a two-possession lead (78-73), then Nwaniemeka had a dunk and a layup to end it after Cheyney couldn't convert on its last two trips.

Senior forward Zechariah Runkle added four points and nine rebounds and junior guard Matt Tobin had five points, four rebounds and five assists for the Warriors, who led 38-28 at halftime.

ESU was hot from the three-point line to start, getting makes from Nwaniemeka, Tobin, redshirt junior guard Will Brown and Grant for its first 12 points. The Warriors ran out to a 32-19 lead before Cheyney tightened the score by halftime.

Cheyney (3-22, 3-12) scored eight straight points early in the second half to pull within 46-44 with 14 minutes left, and ESU didn't lead by more than 10 points the rest of the way.

Another 8-0 run gave Cheyney its first lead since 4-3 in the first three minutes, before the Warriors closed out their 24th victory against one setback.

ESU has won four straight since its only loss, 82-80 at Lock Haven on February 6. The Warriors' four-game win streak is the second-best in the PSAC behind Gannon's seven-game win streak. The Golden Knights (18-8, 13-3) will be the top seed in the PSAC West.

The Warriors finish the regular season against West Chester (18-7, 11-4) on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. at Koehler Fieldhouse. ESU won the first meeting, 107-94, on January 25 at Hollinger Field House, closing with a 22-3 run in the final 5:38.

ESU will be the top seed in the PSAC East and host a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, March 4 at Koehler Fieldhouse. The division's top remaining seed after the quarterfinals will host the PSAC Final Four on March 8-9 (Saturday/Sunday).

West Chester will be the No. 2 seed, followed by Bloomsburg (15-10, 10-5), Lock Haven (16-9, 9-6), Millersville (12-12, 8-7) and Kutztown (9-16, 7-8).

ESU will face the winner of Saturday's Lock Haven-Millersville game on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.


GAME NOTES
* Grant is 7th at ESU with 1,363 career points, moving past former teammate Duane Johnson (1,347). He passed Terrance King (1,337) last Saturday.
* Grant scored 20+ points for the 26th time in his career. ESU is 21-5 when he hits the 20-point mark.

* Grant moved into 2nd at ESU with 69 3-pointers this season, 7 from the school record of 76 set by Andy Heimbach in 2009-10.
* Grant also ranks 2nd in career 3-pointers with 191. Heimbach holds the school record with 236 (2006-10).

* Tobin moved into 6th at ESU with 311 career assists, passing Robby Pines (310 - 2006-10).
 
* ESU has won PSAC East titles in 1992, 2010, 2013 and 2014. The Warriors have won two conference tournament titles, in 1990 and 2012.

* 20 of ESU's 24 victories have come by double figures. The Warriors were 4th in DII in scoring margin (+19.3) entering the weekend.

* The Warriors have won 66 games in the last 3 years (66-20), the most in school history. The 1970-71 through 72-73 teams were 63-12.

* The Warriors are 106-38 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, 207-128 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 8th straight week, and the 10th week in program history.

* ESU has won 4 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 led DII in turnover margin (+7.9) entering the weekend, and had a 14-8 turnover margin at Cheyney.
* When holding a turnover margin of +5 or greater, ESU is: 18-1 this year, 33-3 the last 2 years, and 53-11 since the start of the 2009-10 season.