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Steve Harris Ralik Wise Ryan Krawczeniuk
Bob Shank
Seniors Steve Harris, Ralik Wise and Ryan Krawczeniuk

Warriors (21-5, 18-4) Win Outright PSAC East Title with 73-66 Win vs. Millersville; Awaits PSAC Quarterfinals Wednesday

2/24/2018 12:00:00 AM

Box Score  l  PSAC Tournament info

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University secured its fourth outright PSAC East men's basketball regular season title in six years with a 73-66 win over Millersville on Saturday afternoon at Koehler Fieldhouse.

ESU (21-5, 18-4), which won its seventh straight game since the calendar turned to February and its 10th in the last 11 games, earned the PSAC East No. 1 seed earlier this week and will host a PSAC quarterfinal game on Wednesday, February 28 at Koehler Fieldhouse.

The Warriors will play the winner of Monday's first-round game between No. 4 seed Kutztown (20-6, 16-6) and No. 5 Bloomsburg (15-11, 11-11) in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. ESU's women's team (16-10, 14-8) is the No. 2 seed in its bracket and will play the winner of No. 3 Millersville and No. 6 Mansfield.

The PSAC East's top remaining seed after Wednesday's men's quarterfinals, and the PSAC West's top remaining seed after the women's quarterfinals, will host their respective PSAC Final Four's on Saturday and Sunday (March 3-4).

The PSAC East regular season title, ESU's sixth overall and fifth in the last nine years (1992, 2010, 2013-15, 2018), also carries significance as the fourth outright title in the last six years. The Warriors are the first PSAC East program to achieve that in 35 years, since Cheyney won 10 in 13 years from 1971-83.

Junior guard Nick Giordano scored 16 points to lead four double-figure scorers, and redshirt senior forward Steve Harris had seven points and 12 rebounds as one of three seniors recognized prior to the game. Guard Ryan Krawczeniuk scored 10 points and forward Ralik Wise had five points and three rebounds.

Krawczeniuk, sophomore forward Kobi Nwandu and redshirt junior forward Josh Williams (10 points, 6 rebounds) had 10 points each for the Warriors.

Redshirt junior guard Jakwan Jones had eight points, seven assists but also a season-high seven turnovers for the Warriors, after posting 31 assists and eight turnovers in the last four games to push his season average over 6.0 per game, second in the PSAC. Sophomore guard Montrel Morgan added seven points and four rebounds.

Marcus Adkison scored 15 points, Andre Watkins had 14 and seven rebounds and D'Marco Suggs scored 11 for Millersville (10-18, 8-14), the No. 6 seed in the PSAC East in next week's conference tournament. The Marauders will travel to No. 3 seed Shippensburg (21-6, 17-5) for a first-round game on Monday.

ESU opened the game on a 19-2 run in the first 4:30 - sparked by seven points, three assists and three steals by Giordano - and led 41-25 at halftime after forcing 16 Marauder turnovers and posting 10 steals.

ESU finished the game with just a 24-23 turnover margin and 12 steals, turning the ball over 15 times in the second half.

The Warriors led throughout and had a 55-40 lead with just under 12 minutes left, but Millersville chipped away, cutting it to seven (58-51) with an 11-3 run around a three-point play by Giordano.

Morgan hit a three the next time down and Nwandu made a pair of free throws before the Marauders scored eight straight, including six by Watkins, trimming ESU's lead to 63-59 with 4:41 remaining.

Williams scored 30 seconds later for ESU, and Millersville went cold down the stretch - going 1-for-5 from the field and 2-for-6 at the line with four turnovers in its final 10 offensive possessions, before a three-pointer at the buzzer.

ESU held Millersville to 41.1 percent (23-for-56) and just 2-for-15 from the three-point line, along with forcing the 24 turnovers.

The Warriors shot 42.9 percent (24-for-56) and 7-for-20 from long distance, with Krawczeniuk going 3-for-5.

Harris shot just 1-for-5 from the field after leading the PSAC and ranking sixth in DII at 67.3 percent entering the game, but his 12 rebounds were his second-most this season.

He moved into ESU's top-10 list for career rebounds with 614 and ranks ninth, surpassing Al Munford (613 - 1994-98) and Duane Johnson (608 - 2009-13).

Jones moved into 10th on ESU's chart for single-season assists with 160.
 
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