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Allison Howard Rasheed Moore
Bob Shank
ESU junior forwards Allison Howard and Rasheed Moore lead their respective teams in scoring entering the PSAC Tournament.

ESU Basketball Set for PSAC Tournament Doubleheader Saturday (Women 1 p.m., Men 3 p.m.)

2/24/2016 12:00:00 AM

PSAC home pages:  Women  l  Men

Tickets (set by PSAC):
$7 -- adults
$2 -- students
Free -- PSAC member institution students with ID


EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University will host a PSAC basketball tournament doubleheader on Saturday at Koehler Fieldhouse, with the ESU women hosting Bloomsburg at 1 p.m. followed by the men vs. Lock Haven at 3 p.m.

ESU's men (20-6, 16-6) are the PSAC East's No. 3 seed and host No. 6 Lock Haven (12-14, 8-14). The winner will advance to the quarterfinals at No. 2 seed West Chester (21-5, 17-5) on Tuesday night.

The Warriors women (14-12, 12-10) are the No. 4 seed and face No. 5 Bloomsburg (13-13, 10-12). The winner will also advance to play at West Chester, the No. 1 seed (20-6, 17-5), in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

Both games will be televised on Blue Ridge TV-13 and esuwarriors.com "All Access".  This marks the first postseason that both teams will play at home on the same day.

WOMEN'S GAME vs. Bloomsburg

ESU has won 13 of its last 18 games since December 5, while Bloomsburg has dropped seven of its last eight entering Saturday afternoon's first-round game.

The Warriors, picked seventh in the PSAC East, turned their season around with a stretch of eight wins in nine games between December 5 and January 20, including a 74-73 win vs. No. 13-ranked California on January 3.

ESU has won three straight going into the PSAC Tournament - 89-57 at Mansfield, 65-55 vs. Lock Haven and 64-57 at Millersville on Wednesday night.

The Warriors and Huskies split their first two meetings this season with each winning on their home floor - Bloomsburg 73-52 on December 1, and ESU 71-66 on January 30, which ended a 14-game losing streak vs. BU.

Junior forward Allison Howard leads ESU in both scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) while posting eight double-doubles. She has eclipsed the 900-point mark for her career this season and has 499 career rebounds. She ranks 11th in the PSAC in both scoring and rebounding and is just the second ESU player with 400+ points (405) and 200+ rebounds (203) in a season in the last 20 years.

Sophomore guard Imani Brown has emerged as the second-leading scorer (11.5 ppg) while coming off the bench in her last 23 games (scoring 10+ points 14 times). She had a career-high 28 points in the win vs. California, one of two 20-point games off the bench this winter.

Senior guard Tyeca Reviere, in her second season as a starter, is averaging career-highs with 7.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. She ranks eighth in the PSAC in assists and fourth in steals (2.0 per game) while leading ESU with 32.2 minutes per game.

Sophomore forward Rebecca Rutkowski joins Howard in the frontcourt, where she is averaging 7.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and a PSAC-leading 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the field.

Junior guard Rachel Falkowski (6.0 ppg, 3.l7 rpg, 1.5 apg) and senior guard Melissa Poderis (5.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.3 apg), in her third year as a starter, join Reviere at the starting guard spots. Poderis ranks 10th at ESU with 240 career assists.

Senior center Michelle Boggs has started 15 games, posting 5.2 points, 5.7 rebounds (2nd on team) and 1.4 blocks (9th in PSAC). She has 103 career blocks, fifth in school history.

Freshman guard Noelle Powell (4.7 ppg) and junior forward Madison Tamburini (4.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg) are also key contributors off the bench as the Warriors have maintained a nine-player rotation through most of the second half of the season.

Bloomsburg is led by redshirt senior forward Adreana Sadowski (14.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 60.8 field goal %), junior guard Morgan Klunk (11.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.5 apg) and junior guard Alex Ross (9.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.8 apg).

Junior guard Mia Hopkins, a transfer from Monmouth, has missed five of BU's last seven games and played just nine minutes in February. Hopkins opened the season with seven straight double-doubles (10 total) and ranks seventh in the PSAC in scoring (16.1 ppg), fifth in rebounding (9.2) and third in steals (2.0).

Both teams rank in the middle of the PSAC pack in both scoring and scoring defense, while Bloomsburg ranks second in field goal percentage (43.1) and ESU third in field goal defense (37.3), pacing the PSAC in blocked shots per game (5.2) with Rutkowski and Boggs in the middle.

ESU is in the PSAC Tournament for the fourth straight year and will look to advance to the quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons, moving on in 2014 with a 49-48 win at Millersville. The Warriors' last semifinal appearance was in 2007.

The Warriors are in their first season under head coach Diane Decker, who was previously ESU's acting head coach during the 207-08 season following two years as an assistant, including the 2006-07 team that won a school-record 25 games. Decker was an assistant coach at Bloomsburg for the last seven years under Bill Cleary, helping BU to five PSAC East regular season titles, one PSAC Tournament title and four NCAA DII Tournament appearances.

ESU assistant coach Marla Simmons was last year's PSAC East Athlete of the Year at Bloomsburg and a WBCA All-America honorable mention selection. She played on four straight NCAA Tournament teams and reached the regional final as a junior and senior (2014 and 2015).

MEN'S GAME vs. Lock Haven

ESU secured its 10th 20-win season in program history, and fifth in the last seven years, with an 80-75 win at Millersville on Wednesday night.

The Warriors won the last three straight PSAC East regular season titles (2013-15), earning a first-round bye, and must go through Lock Haven to reach the quarterfinals this winter. ESU has made six straight PSAC Final Four appearances (2010-15), tied with California (1992-97) for the conference's longest stretch in the last 35 years.

ESU has won two of the last four PSAC championships (2012, 2014) and made four PSAC Tournament trips in the last six years (2010, 2012-14). The Warriors are listed No. 8 in this week's NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings.

Led by head coach Jeff Wilson, one of 12 coaches to reach the 250-win mark in PSAC history, the Warriors won nine straight games from December 19 through February 27, and have won their last three after a 2-3 stretch at the midpoint of the divisional schedule.

ESU has won both meetings vs. Lock Haven this season, 102-84 on the road on January 20 and 107-86 at home last Saturday.

Saturday's winner travels to No. 2 seed West Chester (21-5, 17-5) for the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

The Warriors enter as the PSAC leaders in scoring (88.8 ppg), assists (18.7) and steals (10.2), continuing their pressing, 90-foot, 40-minute style that has made them one of the DII leaders in all three categories. ESU ranks 11th in DII in scoring, fifth in assists and third in steals while ranking second in the PSAC and 17th nationally in turnover margin (+3.7).

ESU has three career 1,000-point scorers in junior forward Rasheed Moore (1,127), senior guard Jamal Nwaniemeka (1,099 - 1,088 at ESU) and redshirt senior guard Will Brown (1,062).

Moore ranks 27th in the PSAC in scoring (13.0 ppg), Nwaniemeka 29th (12.7 ppg) and Brown 34th (12.0 ppg) as the Warriors regularly play 13 in their rotation.

Moore, two-time All-PSAC East second team and this year's Lehigh Valley Small College Player of the Year, has put together another efficient season while ranking second on the Warriors with 26.5 minutes per game. He is the fourth ESU player to score 1,000 career points as a junior, joining the top three scorers in program history. He has 11 career double-doubles, including five this season.

Nwaniemeka, who joined Moore on the preseason All-PSAC East team, was the 2014 PSAC Tournament MVP and enters his third postseason with the Warriors. He has scored 1,088 points in 86 games, including 83 starts, and ranks fifth in school history with 151 career three-pointers. He leads ESU in minutes (28.8), ranks third in steals (32), second in blocks (13) and third in assists (58) while shooting 37.2 percent from the three-point line.

Brown is a sixth-year senior and first-year starter in the backcourt. The Warriors' top bench scorer in 2011, 2014 and 2015, he has poured in 1,062 points in 110 games for ESU, including 10 postseason games. He ranks third in school history in career three's (218), shooting 39.6 percent from long distance, including 40.7 percent this season. he is averaging career-bests across the board, including minutes (24.8) and steals (38).

Junior forward Steve Harris (9.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg) is fourth in the PSAC in rebounding and teams with Moore to give ESU perhaps the best frontcourt in the PSAC East. He is shooting 61.2 percent with a team-high 20 blocks and has seven double-doubles in his second season as a starter.

Freshman guard Najee Walls is the PSAC's assist leader (5.5 per game), ranking 23rd in DII and third among DII freshmen, while playing 25.5 minutes per night (3rd on the team). He has already set ESU's freshman assist record (138) and has 38 steals, tied with Brown for the team lead. He is averaging 7.9 points per game, including a season-high 16 in Wednesday's win at Millersville.

Sophomore guard Ryan Krawczeniuk, a high school teammate of Moore and transfer from Mansfield, is contributing 12.0 minutes as the backup point guard with 3.8 points and 2.9 assists per game.

Redshirt junior guard Quindell Brice (9.3 ppg) and freshman guard Nick Giordano (6.4 ppg) are the top two scorers off the bench, with Brice hitting double-figures 13 times and Giordano seven times, including 20 (6-for-7 on three's) in last week's win vs. Lock Haven. Giordano is 32-for-67 from the three-point line (47.8 percent).

Senior forward Wes Cherry (5.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 30 steals) has played 14.0 minutes per game, and redshirt freshman forward Chris Bing (4.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg), junior forward Sultan Aminu (3.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and senior forward Dajon Todmann (1.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg) have all contributed in the frontcourt. Redshirt sophomore Steven Stoney is posting 2.4 points and 1.1 rebounds as a backup guard.

ESU has an 83-19 record (.813) at Koehler Fieldhouse since the start of the 2009-10 season, including an 8-2 mark in postseason games and 6-1 record in PSAC Tournament games.



WOMEN - PSAC Tournament (East)

1st round - Saturday (Feb. 27)

1 p.m. - #4 ESU (14-12, 12-10) vs. #5 Bloomsburg (13-13, 10-12)
1 p.m. - #3 Millersville (18-8, 14-8) vs. #6 Lock Haven (11-15, 8-14)

Quarterfinals - Tuesday (March 1)
5:30 p.m. - #4/#5 winner at #1 West Chester (20-6, 17-5)
7 p.m. - #3/#6 winner at #2 Shippensburg (20-6, 16-6)

Semifinals/Finals - Saturday-Sunday (March 5-6)
at PSAC West top remaining seed


MEN - PSAC Tournament (East)

1st round - Saturday (Feb. 27)
3 p.m. - #3 ESU (20-6, 16-6) vs. #6 Lock Haven (12-14, 8-14)
3 p.m. - #4 Shippensburg (18-8, 15-7) vs. #5 Bloomsburg (17-9, 15-7)

Quarterfinals - Tuesday (March 1)
7 p.m. - #4/#5 winner at #1 Kutztown (21-5, 18-4)
7:30 p.m. - #3/#6 winner at #2 West Chester (21-5, 17-5)

Semifinals/Finals - Saturday-Sunday (March 5-6)
at PSAC East top remaining seed
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