SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Kitt Najee Walls registered a team-high 19 points and seven assists to lead the East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team to an 84-74 win against Virginia Union on Saturday as the Warriors collected their first victory of the season.

Walls, who was named to the All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the PSAC vs. CIAA Conference Challenge, scored his 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, while also posting team-highs in assists (7) and steals (3). Freshman Zach Sabol added 11 points and six rebounds, and Michal Weiss was the other Warrior to finish in double-figures, registering 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting.

ESU shot 48-percent from the field and forced 24 turnovers by Virginia Union. The Warriors scored 27 points off forced turnovers in the contest.

VUU posted a 53-percent shooting night and made 7-of-16 (.440) from long range. Terrell Leach led all scorers in the contest with 31 points as he drained 6-of-10 from long range. Raemaad Wright tallied a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.

After a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes to the game, Walls hit a three-pointer just under the midway mark of the first half which gave the Warriors a lead they would not surrender for the remainder of the game. Minutes after they re-took the lead, ESU built its advantage to seven, 26-19, following a three-pointer from Marc Rodriguez and a layup by Zion Darby.

The Warriors then pushed the advantage to the largest of the half in the final minute after a 7-2 run sparked by a three from Walls and a pair of free throws by Weiss made it a 44-32 game. VUU's Tyriek Railey hit 1-of-2 from the line in the final seconds to cut the deficit to 44-33 heading into the break.

After a bucket from Montrel Morgan to open the second half gave the Warriors their largest lead of the game, VUU scored seven straight to knock the lead back down to six. The Panthers continued to battle and tied the game at 52-52 with 13:06 remaining.

ESU registered 10 of the game's next 12 points, led by eight points from Carlos Pepin, to jump back in front by eight, 62-54, at the 10:02 mark.

The Panthers chipped the ESU lead back down to one possession on a pair of occasions over the next five minutes, but each time the Warriors battled back to increase the lead. ESU pushed the lead to 10 with 1:38 remaining, and the Panthers weren't able to cut it back down below eight from there as the Warriors went on for the 84-74 victory.

The Warriors return to action next Saturday, November 16 for their home opener against Cheyney at 5:30 p.m. from Koehler Fieldhouse.