EAST STROUDSBURG – Four Warriors finished in double-figures as the East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team knocked off West Chester, 86-74, in the PSAC Quarterfinals on Wednesday night in front of a packed house at Koehler Fieldhouse. The Warriors pushed their win streak to 10 straight with the victory, and are now undefeated in their last 13 home games in the PSAC Tournament.

ESU (20-8) advances to face IUP (26-2) in the PSAC Semifinals this Saturday, March 7 at Shippensburg University, with opening tip set for 1 p.m. The Warriors will battle an IUP squad that is ranked seventh in Division II and is the top seed in the PSAC West.

Marc Rodriguez notched a team-high 16 points to lead the way for the Warriors. The redshirt sophomore went 5-of-7 from downtown, registering his fourth game of the season and second-straight with five or more three-pointers. Shamir Johnson chipped in 15 points off the bench to record the second-highest scoring game of his career, and Michal Weiss (12 pts) and Mike Millsip (10) were the other two Warriors to finish in double-figures. Millsip added a team-high seven boards, and Kitt Najee Walls notched a game-high seven assists.

The victory pushed the Warriors to 20-8 overall as they have now recorded their third-straight 20-plus win season. It marks just the third time in program history the team has won 20 or more games in three straight seasons, with the two prior instances spanning 1970-73 and 2011-14. ESU has now registered 20-plus wins 13 times in program history, with eight of those coming under current Head Coach Jeff Wilson.

ESU extended its current win streak to 10 straight games with the triumph over West Chester, marking the 15^th time in program history the Warriors have posted a win streak of 10 or more games.

ESU earned a series sweep over West Chester (20-10), defeating the Golden Rams all three times the teams faced this season. The Warriors are now 5-3 against WCU in the postseason, with a 4-3 mark in PSAC Tournament play and a 1-0 record in NCAA Tournament play.

The Warriors improved their home PSAC Tournament record to 14-2 overall with the victory, and have now won 13 consecutive PSAC Playoff games at Koehler Fieldhouse.

ESU shot 48.6-percent in the opening half and held West Chester to a 39.4-percent mark as the Warriors grabbed a 13-point lead at the halftime break.

Things were tight heading into the final minutes of the half before an 11-4 run in the last four minutes gave the Warriors some breathing room. Shamir Johnson netted the final five points of the stanza for ESU on a traditional three-point play and a buzzer-beating floater, which sent the Warriors into the locker room with a 49-36 advantage.

ESU held onto its double-digit lead in the early going of the second half and built its advantage to 20 points at the 12:56 mark after a triple from Rodriguez followed by a jumper from Johnson. The Warriors then grabbed their largest lead of the game, 69-45, just over a minute later after Millsip converted a pair at the line.

With the Warriors holding a 22-point advantage with 7:45 to play, West Chester rattled off nine straight points in a span of three-plus minutes to make it an 80-67 game with 4:01 on the clock.
The Golden Rams made it a 10-point game late, but Johnson iced the game by hitting a pair of free throws in the final minute, as ESU would go on for the 86-74 victory.

ESU shot 44.4-percent overall and made 9-of-25 (.360) from long range, while West Chester posted a 40.3-percent shooting night and hit 11-of-29 (.379) from deep. The feisty Warrior defense forced 25 turnovers and scored 28 points off turnovers in the contest.

West Chester's leading scorer, Robbie Heath, was held to a dismal 5-for-21 shooting night from the floor. Malik Jackson fared better, going 6-of-12 overall and 4-of-9 from deep to record 16 points for the Golden Rams.

The Warriors will face No. 7 IUP this Saturday in the 27^th all-time meeting in series history. IUP posted an 80-56 victory over ESU in the lone matchup between the teams this season back on November 24.