LAKEWOOD, N.J. – Tied 31-31 with under four minutes left in the first half, the East Stroudsburg University men's basketball finished the first half with a 12-5 run and exploded with 65 second half points to take home a 108-86 win over Georgian Court in the non-conference finale on Friday night at the GCU Wellness Center.
The Warriors (8-0, 2-0 PSAC) close the non-conference schedule unscathed, while the Lions fall to 4-4 after entering the game with consecutive wins.
Lakeem McAliley (9-16 FG, 6-6 FT) led five Warrior double-figure scorers with 24 points and cleaned the glass with nine rebounds. No slouch defensively, McAliley registered five steals as a forward in 26 minutes on the court.
Notables
- Carlos Pepin (7-12 FG) and Jaelen McGlone both poured in 17 points, with Pepin grabbing seven rebounds and distributing three assists.
- Also reaching 10-plus points were Justin Paz (13 pts., 4-9 3PT) and Mike Millsip (12 pts., 4-4 FG). Millsip added eight rebounds, three assists and a steal.
- Mike Ramos stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, while committing just one turnover. Sharpshooter David Duda Jr. added a pair of 3-pointers, Davon Lee paced ESU with five assists and also grabbed four rebounds.
- ESU led 47-38 in rebounds and posted and shot an impressive 85 percent from the free-throw line (17-20), compared to 59.3 percent from GCU (16-27 FT). The Red and Black also held advantages in assists (22-19), fastbreak points (27-17), steals (13-9), points off turnovers (33-21), points in the paint (56-38), second-chance points (25-13)
- The Warriors have now tallied five 100-point performances in just eight contests this season. ESU previously reached the century mark in five games in a season during the 1970-71 season and 1993-94. ESU is halfway to its school season record of 10 100-point games in 2017-18.
- The Warriors have defeated its opponents by at least 10 points in each of the past seven contests. ESU most recently accomplished this in the 2017-18 and 2015-16 seasons. ESU looks to break the streak of nine consecutive games of defeating its opponents by at least 10 points, set in 2018-19.
How It Happened
- After several dominant wins in a row, the Warriors got a fight from the start for the Lions. The squads traded points with neither team held a lead by more than six points. With the score tied 31-31.A Nasir Griffin free throw broke the tie for good, as ESU closed the half on a 12-5 run to take a 43-36 lead.
- After ESU exited the locker room, the Warriors offense exploded. A 20-5 run to start the half, as suddenly the Red and Black led by 22 points less than five minutes into the final half.
- The Warriors' lead fluctuated between 15 and 24 points the rest of the way, as ESU picked up its eight consecutive win to start the season with a 108-86 win over GCU.
Up Next
- ESU is idle from game action until Sun., Dec. 18 and Dec. 19, when the Warriors head west to battle PSAC West foes Seton Hill (Sun., Dec. 18, 3:00 p.m.) and California (Pa.) (Mon., Dec. 19, 3:00 p.m.).
