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Related: Quarterfinal recap - ESU 79, Millersville 62

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University continues its pursuit of the 2015 PSAC men's basketball championship as the Warriors head to western Pennsylvania for their sixth straight appearance in the PSAC Final Four this weekend.

ESU (19-9), the PSAC East regular season champion, faces IUP (25-5), the No. 3 seed in the PSAC West, in a semifinal game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at host Gannon University.

Gannon (21-8), the PSAC West champion, hosts Kutztown (19-11) in the second semifinal at 3:30 p.m.

The PSAC championship game will be played Sunday at 3:30 p.m. and broadcast statewide on PCN.

ESU, which has won two of the last three PSAC championships (2012, 2014), and IUP (2010, 2011, 2013) have combined to win the last five PSAC titles entering Saturday's semifinal.

IUP won the first match-up this season, 78-63, on January 3 at Koehler Fieldhouse. This is the fourth postseason meeting between the two schools since 2010 and the first since IUP's victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2013.

ESU advanced to its sixth straight Final Four - tied with California (1992-97) for the longest streak in 35 years - with a 79-62 win over Millersville on Wednesday night.

ESU head coach Jeff Wilson is the first to lead his school to six consecutive PSAC Final Four's, and Wilson and IUP's Joe Lombardi are two of four active PSAC coaches to win multiple conference titles.

IUP is coming off a 67-59 win at No. 2 seed Mercyhurst on Tuesday after an 82-63 win over Pitt-Johnstown in the first round last Saturday. The Crimson Hawks have won five straight and 10 of their last 12 overall.

The Warriors are 8-1 in PSAC Tournament games since the start of the 2011-12 season and ESU's quartet of four-year seniors - guards Matt Tobin and Whis Grant, and forwards Muhamadou Kaba and Lamont Tillery - have played in 14 career postseason games. The Warriors are 91-30 over the last four years, including 10-4 in postseason competition.

Tobin, named PSAC East Athlete of the Year on Wednesday, and Grant, a two-time All-American and the 2013 PSAC East Athlete of the Year, form a senior backcourt that has earned All-PSAC East honors in both of the last two seasons.

IUP is led by a pair of senior guards as well in Devante Chance, the PSAC West Athlete of the Year, and Shawn Dyer, a second team selection and former standout at West Liberty.

Tobin and Chance are the first PSAC Athletes of the Year to meet in the tournament since 2009, when Kutztown and Dave Ben advanced over Slippery Rock and Denell Stephens in the semifinals. This is the eighth meeting between PSAC Athletes of the Year since 1988.

Tobin (9.4 ppg) leads the PSAC in assists (6.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) and steals (2.3), keying an ESU attack that paces the conference in scoring (83.8 ppg), three-pointers (9.2), assists (18.1), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.34) and turnover margin ( 5.5).

Grant (13.0 ppg, 3.6 apg), junior guard Jamal Nwaniemeka (13.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and sophomore forward Rasheed Moore (12.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg), a two-time All-PSAC East second team selection, form the Warriors' top scorers.

Tillery (9.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg), who scored 16 points in the win over Millersville in the quarterfinals, and Kaba (3.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg) team up at the "four" spot for ESU.

Redshirt senior guard Will Brown (8.8 ppg), in his third season of competition while missing the 2012 and 2013 seasons due to injury, is a marksman off the bench with 51 three-pointers.

Sophomore forward Steve Harris (7.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 63.6 fg%) provides depth on the front line, and freshman guard Jakwan Jones (3.4 ppg, 1.6 apg) averages just over 10 minutes per game behind Tobin at point guard.

ESU enters the PSAC semifinals with six players who have scored more than 700 career points in Grant (1,850 - #2 all-time), Tobin (1,040), Moore (786), Nwaniemeka (755), Tillery (749) and Brown (740).

Tobin is the first ESU player, 11th in PSAC history and first since 2001 with 1,000 career points and 500 assists (541 - #10 in PSAC history).

On last year's 30-2 team, Tobin was the first player to lead the PSAC in assists, assist-to-turnover ratio and steals in at least 15 years - and leads the conference in all three categories again this year.

He is also the first point guard to lead his team to three straight outright PSAC divisional titles in at least 35 years.

Grant is the second player to advance to four straight PSAC Final 4's while earning three first team All-PSAC honors, joining IUP's Derrick Freeman (1994-96).

Tobin and Grant are the first teammates to share the floor as PSAC Athletes of the Year during their respective careers, and Nwaniemeka was last year's PSAC Tournament MVP with 27 points in a 92-80 win over West Chester in the championship game.

IUP has its own backcourt trio led by Chance, who ranks sixth in the PSAC in scoring (16.2 ppg), second in assists (5.8) and first in minutes (37.7).

Dyer, who helped West Liberty reach last year's NCAA DII championship game, averages 13.1 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds in his only season at IUP. Junior Brandon Norfleet, the 2013 PSAC East Freshman of the Year at Cheyney, posts 11.6 points per game in his second season with the Crimson Hawks.

Redshirt senior forwards Jeremy Jeffers (8.6 ppg) and Daddy Ugbede (11.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 66.7 fg%) are both transfers from DI Drake, with Jeffers in his second season at IUP and Ugbede in his first.

Chance (69 3's, 39.9%), Dyer (67 3's, 37.6%), Jeffers (47 3's, 39.5%) and Norfleet (23 3's, 40.4%) help IUP rank second in the PSAC in three-point percentage (38.3).

IUP is fifth in the PSAC in scoring (75.5 ppg) but first in the PSAC West, where four of the nine schools average less than 70 points per game. IUP paces the conference in field goal percentage (48.6) and free throw percentage (77.7) while ranking second to ESU in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.21).

Defensively, IUP is second in the PSAC allowing 61.8 points per game.

Chance had 23 points and six assists, Ugbede had 19 points and eight rebounds, Norfleet scored 15 points and Jeffers had 13 for IUP in the first meeting this season.

Moore scored 20 points, Tobin had 13, Nwaniemeka 12 and Grant 11 for ESU. The Warriors shot just 39.6 percent from the field and 12-for-24 from the foul line, while IUP shot 60.0 percent, including 16-for-24 in the second half.

In the second semifinal, Gannon has won six straight, 10 of its last 11, and is coming off a convincing 71-45 win over Slippery Rock in the quarterfinals. Kutztown hammered Shippensburg (77-54) in the first round before a 90-79 (OT) upset win at No. 2 seed West Chester on Tuesday.

Gannon leads the PSAC in scoring defense (56.0 ppg) and is second in field goal defense (39.6), while Kutztown counters ranked fourth in scoring offense (76.2 ppg) and second in field goal percentage (47.4).

Gannon point guard Adam Blazek (14.1 ppg) is a two-time All-PSAC West first team selection and was last year's Athlete of the Year. Girbran Smith (14.4 ppg) was also first team All-PSAC West, Raphell Thomas-Edwards (9.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg) was on the second team and A'Darius Porter (6.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg) was the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year.

Gannon outlasted ESU for an 83-79 (2OT) win at the Hammermill Center on December 16.

Kutztown has three players on the All-PSAC East second team in guard Tynell Fortune (16.5 ppg), forward Josh Johnson (14.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and guard Tyler Brooks (9.0 ppg), the PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year.

NOTES
* ESU is in the PSAC Final 4 for the 6th straight year and is looking for its 3rd PSAC championship in 4 years.

* IUP had reached 4 straight Final 4's before a quarterfinal loss to Mercyhurst last season.
* The Crimson Hawks won 3 of 4 PSAC titles (2010-11, 2013) and are the only school to win at least 3 in 4 years since Cheyney won 7 of 8 from 1976-83.

* Kutztown is in its first Final 4 since consecutive runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2010. The Golden Bears are seeking their 1st PSAC championship.

* Gannon is in its 2nd straight Final 4 and won the PSAC championship in its first season in the conference in 2009, edging Kutztown.

*ESU and IUP will meet in the postseason for the 4th time in the last 6 years:
2013 - NCAA 1st round (IUP W 76-68)
2011 - PSAC semifinals (IUP W 81-72)
2010 - PSAC semifinals (IUP W 67-63)

* The Final 4 features the winners of the last 6 PSAC titles - Gannon (2009), IUP (2010, 2011), ESU (2012), IUP (2013) and ESU (2014).

* 5 active PSAC coaches have won conference titles, with 3 coaching this weekend:
3 - Joe Lombardi, IUP (2010-11, 2013)
2 - JEFF WILSON, ESU (2012, 2014)
2 - Fred Thompson, Millersville (2003, 2007)
2 - Bill Brown, California (1999, 2008)
1 - John Reilly, Gannon (2009)

* Most PSAC Final 4's, active PSAC coaches:
7 - Bill Brown, California
6 - JEFF WILSON, ESU
5 - Joe Lombardi, IUP

* Consecutive PSAC Final 4's, head coaches (since 1981)
6 - Jeff Wilson, ESU (2010-15) 
5 - Charlie Chronister, Bloomsburg (1998-02)
Jim Boone, California (1992-96)