EAST STROUDSBURG – In the PSAC East home opener, the 23rd ranked East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team never trailed, picking up another dominant win with a. 85-50 pummeling of Mansfield on Saturday afternoon inside Koehler Fieldhouse.
The Warriors (12-1, 6-1 PSAC) pick up their fourth consecutive win and its 12th win in 13 games on the season. The Mountaineers (2-9, 1-6 PSAC) drop its sixth consecutive contest.
ESU was led by Carlos Pepin (7-7 FG) and Lakeem McAliley (6-6 FG), who registered double-doubles and both did not miss a field goal attempt on the afternoon. Pepin registered his fifth consecutive double-double, pouring in a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds, while McAliley added 13 points, 10 rebounds and flirted with a triple-double with eight assists.
Notables
- Mike Millsip also added double-figures, pouring in 10 points (4-6 FG) and grabbed six rebounds. Justin Paz posted nine points and earned three steals, while Jaelen McGlone and David Duda Jr. each added six points.
- Nasir Griffin cleaned the glass with seven rebounds in 11 minutes of work.
- The Mounties failed to get its offense going, shooting just 30.3 percent from the field and 6-25 from long distance. ESU countered with an impressive 54.8 percent mark. The Warriors did struggle from the charity-stripe, making half of its 18 free-throw attempts.
- The Warriors also outrebounded the Mounties by an impressive 48-33 margin (+15), had 23 assists to MU's seven, while ESU's bench outscored MU's by a mark of 48-31. ESU also led in steals (11-7), points off turnovers (23-11) and points in the paint (44-22).
- ESU's Marc Rodriguez appeared in his first contest of the season, after returning from a back injury. He buried a 3-pointer in the final minute of play, as the Father Judge product ranks fifth all-time in Warrior history with 176 career triples.
- The 35-point win was ESU's ninth this season of at least 20 points and its sixth of at least 30 points. The Warriors entered the day ranked second nationally in scoring margin (+23.8 ppg).
- In the second half, Pepin picked up his 500th career rebound. He looks to break in the top-20 in the category at ESU shortly at his current pace.
- ESU head coach Jeff Wilson picked up his 370th career win, tying Dick Delaney (West Chester, 1978-2008) for fifth all-time in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. He looks to take sole possession of fifth place on Wednesday against Bloomsburg. He ranks second among active PSAC coaches in wins, trailing just IUP's Joe Lombardi (380).
How It Happened
- Pepin registered the first points on a layup at the 19:09 mark, as ESU raced to a 22-7 lead. Mansfield closed the gap to 10 points with an 11-6 scoring run, but the Warriors registered 12 unanswered points, grabbing a 40-18 edge at the 2:09 mark. Ultimately, ESU closed the half on a 14-2 sprint to take a commanding 42-20 lead into the locker room.
- The Warriors continued to dominate in the final 20 minutes, as the ESU held a lead of at least 25 points and as high as 41 points. ESU built the game-high lead of 66-25 at 11:24 after opening the half with a 24-5 run. Overall, ESU's 14-2 sprint to end the first half and a 24-5 run to open the second half accumulate in a 38-7 scoring spree. During the 13:36 of clock, ESU sunk 16 of its 22 attempts, turned over the ball just once and picked up six steals, while Mansfield shot just 3-of-17 from the floor during that span, turning the ball over eight times.
- Mansfield doubled its points over the final 11 minutes of action, outscoring the Warriors 25-19 over the final 11:19 with ESU's starters on the bench. As a result, ESU took home the 35-point win against Mansfield with the final score being 85-50.
Up Next
- #23 ESU (12-1, 6-1 PSAC) hosts the Bloomsburg Huskies (0-10, 0-6 PSAC) on Wednesday evening in the Poconos.
- The contest is scheduled to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. with live coverage on Blue Ridge TV 13, the PSAC Sports Digital Network and Bigfoot Country Poconos 103.1 FM and 840 AM.
