EAST STROUDSBURG – In a pivotal PSAC matchup, the East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team used a 20-5 run late to defeat first-place Shippensburg, 65-52, on Saturday afternoon in a raucous Koehler Fieldhouse.

With the win, the Warriors (17-5, 11-4 PSAC) pick up a season-sweep of the Raiders (13-8, 11-4 PSAC) and now hold a potential tiebreaker over Shippensburg. ESU remains deadlocked in second place with West Chester, Lock Haven and Millersville, who all won on Saturday and have identical 11-5 league records. The Raiders hold a half-game lead of those four teams for first place.

Lakeem McAliley was a force offensively, leading the game with 28 points. He shot 11-20 from the floor, while knocking down 6-of-9 3-point attempts from beyond the arc. He grabbed eight rebounds, distributed three assist and totaled just a single turnover.

ESU held Shippensburg to a season-low in points (52), forced a season-high 26 turnovers for SU, allowed the Raiders to shoot 34.5 percent from the floor, tying its second-lowest mark of 2022-23.  
 

Notables

• Carlos Pepin also reached double figures with 13 points (5-11 FG) and 11 rebounds, recording his 11th double-double of the season. His 20 career double-doubles are now the most in a career under head coach Jeff Wilson, as Channon Easley totaled 19 in his career from 2004-08 as the previous leader. He also totaled four steals to pace the team.

• Pepin is now tied with Easley (2006-07) for the most double-doubles in a single season in the Jeff Wilson era (since 2002-03). He trails just Josh Williams' 12 double-doubles during the 2018-19 campaign.
• Shamir Johnson added seven points, while Mike Millsip poured in six. Jaelen McGlone cleaned the glass with six rebounds and distributed four assists.
• ESU led in assists (15-10), steals (15-6), points off turnovers (20-9), bench points (20-7), points in the paint (26-15), fastbreak points (13-3) and had 11 fewer turnovers (26-15)
• Dom Sleva led Shippensburg in the loss with 15 points and 13 rebounds, picking up his 18th double-double of the season. Carlos Carter added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Raiders.
• The victory evened the all-time series with Shippensburg at 60-60.
• ESU now holds a record of 31-1 in the month of February since 2017-18.

How It Happened  

• It was a back and forth first half, as both teams clamped down defensively and made it difficult to score. ESU shot just 25 percent in the first half, knocking down 10 of 40 field goal attempts, while SU didn't fare much better at 34.62 percent (9-26). ESU forced an impressive 16 first half turnovers, which allowed ESU to keep momentum.
• Neither team led by more than six points at any point in the first 20 minutes of action. With the score tied at 15-15, Pepin recorded a layup to lift ESU to a 17-15 advantage. Zach Sabol increased the lead to four with a field goal in the paint, but Shippensburg did not allow the lead to grow. After Shippensburg cut the deficit to two points at 23-21, ESU closed the first half with the final four points, with a Pepin layup and a pair of Nasir Griffin free throws, as ESU entered the locker room with a six-point cushion. McAliley provided 12 of ESU's 27 points, while Pepin contributed a half dozen in the first half.
• Justin Paz opened the halftime scoring with a layup to increase the Warriors' lead to eight, but Shippensburg quickly dropped it down to two points. The Warriors did not relinquish the lead in the second half, as a 41-38 lead with 10:44 to go suddenly jumped to an 18-point Warrior lead at 61-43 with under four minutes to play after a 20-5 run. ESU clamped Shippensburg in that 6:49 stretch, holding the Raiders to 1-of-7 from the field, as McAliley himself scored 11 points. ESU forced seven turnovers and made four 3-pointers to take a commanding lead.
• ESU's lead did not get lower than 13 the rest of the way, as the Warriors pulled off the season sweep of Shippensburg with a 65-52 win.

Up Next

• ESU looks to keep it rolling at Bloomsburg on Monday night. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Nelson Fieldhouse against the Huskies.