Box Score

MANSFIELD, Pa. – Redshirt senior Josh Williams totaled 27 points and 14 rebounds, while senior Nick Giordano added 18 points to lift East Stroudsburg University to a 97-74 victory in its PSAC East opener at Mansfield on Sunday.

The Warriors (9-2, 6-0 PSAC) never trailed after starting the first 6:11 of the contest on a 19-0 run. ESU has won nine games in a row, outscoring opponents by an average of 18.4 points per game during that stretch.

Williams' 27 points were two shy of his career-high of 29 which was established at California in ESU's last contest on Dec. 19. He hit 3 of 4 attempts from 3-point range and 12 of 19 field goal attempts overall. Williams has recorded double-doubles in six of his 10 appearances this season.

Giordano's 18 points were aided by four made 3-point attempts. He has now made 165 3's in his collegiate career, moving past Juwan Justice (1998-02) for fourth in ESU program history.

Tyler Moffe had 26 points and eight rebounds to lead the Mountaineers (1-10, 0-6 PSAC), who dropped their seventh straight game.

Freshman Ryan Smith and Williams combined for 13 of ESU's 19 points during its dominant run to start the contest. The Warriors upped their lead to 54-31 at the intermission, and Mansfield never got closer than 14 points in the second half.

Smith added 13 points in the win, hitting 5 of 6 free throw attempts. Redshirt senior Jakwan Jones dished out eight of ESU's season-high 25 assists, tying him with senior teammate Kitt Najee Walls for fifth place in team history with 370 for his Warrior career.

The Warriors hit 15 of 16 attempts from the free throw line (93.8 percent), and they scored 29 points off 23 Mansfield turnovers. Five different Warriors (Jakwan Jones, Giordano, redshirt sophomore Troy Jones, freshman Ish Horn, freshman Shamir Johnson) had at least three assists.

ESU has an early one game lead over Shippensburg (11-2, 5-1 PSAC) in the PSAC East standings, with the two teams set to square off at Shippensburg next Saturday. Prior to that, the Warriors have a 7:30 p.m. road contest at Saint Rose scheduled for Wednesday, as they take part in their final non-conference game of the regular season.

Notes:

The Warriors are in the midst of their seventh winning streak of eight or more games in the past seven seasons under head coach Jeff Wilson. They won 13 in a row last winter on their way to PSAC and Atlantic Region championships.

Freshman Carlos Pepin scored his first collegiate points on a layup with 40 seconds remaining in regulation.