Box Score l
Photo GalleryPSAC Championships home pageEAST STROUDSBURG - Junior guard
Jamal Nwaniemeka had 21 points and 11 rebounds, senior guard
Whis Grant scored 19 points and East Stroudsburg University secured its third straight outright PSAC East regular season title with an 81-75 win over Kutztown on Wednesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.
ESU (18-9, 16-6) is the first PSAC East school to win three straight outright divisional titles since Cheyney won five from 1976-80. The Warriors were previously the first team to win three straight divisional titles, shared or outright, since Millersville from 1985-87.
Nwaniemeka had his first career double-double, Grant scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half and sophomore forward
Rasheed Moore had six points and 14 rebounds for the Warriors.
Senior forward
Lamont Tillery had 11 points and six rebounds and sophomore forward
Steve Harris added 10 points and five boards as the Warriors held a 45-34 advantage on the glass.
Tynell Fortune scored 33 points and Josh Johnson had 16 to lead Kutztown (17-11, 14-8), which had an opportunity to claim share of the division title.
ESU will host a PSAC quarterfinal game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Koehler Fieldhouse against the winner of the No. 4/No. 5 game between Millersville (15-13, 11-11) and Lock Haven (10-16, 10-12).
The Warriors, the defending PSAC champions, have advanced to five consecutive PSAC Final Four's and have won two of the last three PSAC titles (2012, 2014).
ESU built a 49-33 halftime lead, making 8-of-13 three-pointers, and survived an early Kutztown run to lead by 18 (67-49) with 9:09 remaining.
Over the next seven minutes, the Golden Bears trimmed the deficit to three (72-69) with 1:47 remaining, then sliced an eight-point lead (77-69) with 29 seconds left to three (78-75) with 11 seconds on the clock.
Grant made 1-for-2 at the line, and after a missed three by KU, Nwaniemeka was 2-for-2 with 1.4 seconds left to seal it.
Grant, senior guard
Matt Tobin (6 points, 7 assists), Tillery and redshirt senior guard
Muhamadou Kaba (5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals) improve to 90-30 in their four years at ESU.
Tobin is the first starting point guard to win three straight PSAC divisional titles since at least 1980, with ESU going 70-18 (49-11 PSAC) in the last three years.
He is the first player in PSAC history with 1,000 career points, 500 assists, two PSAC Tournament titles and three PSAC divisional titles.
PSAC East Tournament seeding1. ESU (18-9, 16-6) - 1st-round bye
2. West Chester (16-12, 14-8) - 1st-round bye
3. Kutztown (17-11, 14-8) - hosts #6 Ship
4. Millersville (15-13, 11-11) - hosts #5 LHU
5. Lock Haven (10-16, 10-12)
6. Shippensburg (13-13, 9-13)
* Gannon (20-8, 18-4) is the #1 seed in the PSAC West, followed by Mercyhurst (20-7, 17-5), IUP (23-5, 17-5) and Slippery Rock (19-9, 14-8).
* The top remaining seed in the PSAC West after the quarterfinals will host the PSAC Final Four on March 7-8.
GAME NOTES* The only school to advance to 6 straight PSAC Final 4's in the last 30 years is California (1992-97).
* In the last 3-plus seasons, ESU has won 3 straight PSAC East regular season titles, 2 PSAC Tournament titles (2012, 2014), reached 3 PSAC Final 4's and 3 NCAA Tournaments.
* ESU improves to 49-11 in PSAC games the last 3 years - 26-4 at home and 23-7 on the road.
* ESU improves to 42-7 against PSAC East schools since the start of the 2012-13 season, with 31 wins by 10 points.
* At Koehler Fieldhouse, ESU improves to: 73-16 since 2009-10 ... 39-6 since 2012-13.
* Grant's career ranks at ESU:
2. 1838 points
1. 266 3-pointers (t-7th in PSAC history)
2. 412 FT
3. 194 steals
6. 340 assists
t-3. 118 games played
* Tobin's career ranks at ESU:
1. 532 assists (12th in PSAC history)
5. 187 steals
8. 113 3-pointers
25. 1033 points
2. 119 games played
* Tillery's career ranks at ESU:
1. 120 games played
* PSAC schools with 90 wins in 4-year span since 1970:Cheyney - late 70's/early 80's
Millersville - late 80's
California - entire 90's
IUP - mid-late 90's and last 7 years
ESU - last 4 years (2011-12 through 2014-15)
