LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – East Stroudsburg University topped Lock Haven by a 92-83 margin on Wednesday night in PSAC men's basketball action at Thomas Fieldhouse. The victory secured the No. 2 seed and a First Round bye for the Warriors in the upcoming PSAC Tournament.

ESU, which improved to 18-8 overall and 14-7 in league play with the victory, extended its season-high win streak to eight straight games. The Warriors last defeat came over a month ago, back on January 25 at Gannon.

The Warriors locked up the No. 2 seed in the PSAC East heading into the conference tournament, and will have a bye in the opening round, as will top-seeded Shippensburg. ESU will then host a PSAC Quarterfinal matchup on March 4 at Koehler Fieldhouse.

ESU's string of success has continued under Head Coach Jeff Wilson as the Warriors have now earned a PSAC Tournament berth in 11^th consecutive seasons. They've also finished among the top three in the PSAC East standings in eight straight seasons.

Troy Jones went for a career-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting and a 4-for-7 mark from deep to lead the Warriors in the win. Carlos Pepin and Mike Millsip each chipped in 14 points, and Kitt Najee Walls tallied 11 points while matching his career-high with five steals.

The Warriors shot 54.1-percent from the field and drained 10-of-27 (.370) from deep. Their defense forced 22 turnovers by Lock Haven and scored 31 points off turnovers.  

ESU and Lock Haven were locked in a tight contest in the early stages, as the contest remained a one-possession game through the opening seven minutes of play. ESU then tallies a string of eight straight points to pad its advantage to nine nearing the midway mark of the half. Michal Weiss tallied four points and Pepin and Jones adding a bucket apiece during the stretch.
 
Lock Haven closed the gap down to just four heading under the five-minute mark of the half before ESU erupted for a 15-2 run to close the frame and take command of the game. The Warrior defense was key during the rally, forcing six turnovers in the 4:41 of action. Six different ESU players got in on the scoring action during the dominating stretch which sent the Warriors into the halftime break with a 54-37 advantage.
 
The Warriors were efficient from the field in the opening half, shooting 54.1-percent overall and making all eight of their attempts at the foul line. Jones scored 17 of his 21 points in the half on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and a 3-of-4 mark from downtown, while Millsip and Marc Rodriguez netted eight points apiece in the stanza.
 
Lock Haven scored the opening seven points of the second half to cut its deficit back down to 54-44, but Justin Paz answered with a three-pointer for ESU to stop the run and put an end to the early momentum.
 
Over the ensuing 13 minutes of play, the Bald Eagles got within nine points on a pair of occasions, but ESU was able to answer each time to maintain its relatively comfortable advantage.
 
With ESU holding an 84-74 lead with under three minutes to play, LHU's Trevor Lecuona completed a three-point play to make it a seven-point game and help the Bald Eagles inch closer.
 
After Millsip responded with a jumper for ESU, Christian Kelly and Nasir Campbell got consecutive buckets on LHU's next pair of possessions to trim the Warrior lead to 86-81 with 1:17 remaining.
 
Jones came up clutch on the other end for ESU, hitting a three from the corner off a feed from Walls for his first points of the half. The triple from Jones, which was his fourth of the game, pushed ESU's advantage back to eight with less than a minute to play and essentially sealed the win for the Warriors.
 
ESU made 3-of-4 at the line down the stretch to close out its eighth straight victory and secure the No. 2 seed heading into the PSAC Tournament
 
The Warriors close out the regular season this Saturday, February 29 with a matchup against West Chester at Koehler Fieldhouse at 3 p.m. ESU will honor seniors Montrel Morgan, Kitt Najee Walls and Michal Weiss with a pregame ceremony as part of Senior Day.