WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Despite several scoring runs to cut a once large deficit to single digits, the East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team fell to West Chester, 106-98, on Wednesday night inside Hollinger Fieldhouse.

The Warriors (18-6, 12-6 PSAC) see its three-game winning streak come to a halt with the loss. The Golden Rams (17-7, 12-6 PSAC) pick up a victory after falling to first-place Shippensburg on Monday.

ESU was led by Carlos Pepin and Lakeem McAliley in a pair of 20-point performances.

The Warriors trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half, and whittled the deficit to as low as seven points, but ran out of time as WCU converted its free throws for its first season sweep of ESU since 2008-09.

Notables

• Pepin poured in 28 points, knocking down 7-of-15 field goal attempts, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and knocked down 12-of-18 from the stripe. He brought down seven rebounds.
• McAliley added 21 points in just 19 minutes on the court due to foul trouble. The Philadelphia native picked up three steals along with three rebounds and a block.
• David Duda Jr. swished 3-of-4 attempts from long distance for 11 points. Justin Paz and Shamir Johnson also tallied 11 points for the Warriors. Johnson led the way off the glass with nine rebounds, while also compiling three steals and a block.
• While Pepin and McAliley combined for 49 points, West Chester's dup of Elijah Allen (29 pts.) Kyle McGee (27 pts.) combined for 56, as those four players contributed over half (51.5%) of the 204 points on the evening.
• With the loss, ESU is now tied for third place with West Chester and Lock Haven with identical 12-6 conference records. West Chester now holds the tiebreaker over ESU with two wins against the Warriors. Shippensburg (15-8, 13-4) holds a half-game lead over Millersville (16-8, 13-5) at the top of the standings.

How It Happened

• With the Warriors leading 9-8 early, West Chester exploded on a 16-2 sprint to double up ESU at 22-11. After McAliley knocked down a pair of free throws, WCU posted a 15-8 to grab an 18-point lead at 37-19.
• The Warriors punched back with an 18-7 run to slice the deficit to just seven points at 47-40, following a Pax layup. The Warriors made 7-of-9 field goal attempts during the 4:10 of clock during the run, as Pepin scored seven points. WCU closed the first half with nine of the final 14 points, taking an 11-point lead at 56-45 into the locker room.
• In the second half, West Chester scored the first six points, before ESU responded with a Paz 3-pointer and McAliley layup. With the Golden Rams up 10 points at 67-57, WCU put together a 14-5 run to grab a game-high 19 point lead at 81-62 with 12:14 to go. David Duda Jr. ended the run with a triple, but the Golden Rams knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a 85-67 contest.
• After a West Chester 3-pointer increased the Golden Ram lead to 18 point at 88-70, ESU ripped off a 9-0 scoring run, slicing the deficit to just 11 points at 91-80. WCU took a 14-point lead at 98-84, before the Warriors embarked on an 8-0 run to put the game back into single digits at 98-90.
• After a WCU layup, McAliley sunk a 3-pointer with a minute to go to cut the Golden Ram lead to seven at 100-93. Over the final 53 seconds, West Chester outscored ESU, 6-5, to outlast ESU, 106-98.

Up Next

ESU (18-5, 12-5 PSAC) readies for an important matchup with Millersville (16-8, 12-5), who picked up its ninth consecutive victory on Wednesday night against Lock Haven. The Warriors host the Marauders for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff inside Koehler Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcasted on the PSAC Sports Digital Network and Bigfoot Country Poconos 103.1 FM 840 AM.