BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – After Bloomsburg got within three points of the No. 19/9 East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team with five minutes remaining, the Warriors put its foot down and took control, closing the game on a 12-6 run to take a home a 95-86 victory at Jake Nelson Field House on Wednesday evening.
With the win, the Warriors (15-2, 9-2 PSAC East) set a new program record for consecutive road wins with 11. The Huskies (4-13, 2-9 PSAC) fall after a win over Kutztown in its last contest.
Notables
- The tandem of Jaelen McGlone (22 points, 10-15 FG, 8 rebounds, five steals) and Lakeem McAliley (20 points, 8-12 FG, 3 rebounds, three steals) combined for 42 points, while shooting 18-27 from the field. Defensively, they brought down 11 rebounds and swiped eight possessions from the Huskies.
- Justin Paz also reached double digits in points with 16. He paced the Warrior offense with four assists and totaled a pair of steals. He looks to become the 35th member of ESU's 1,000-point club, now standing just 29 points away at 971 career points.
- Carson Howard (8 points, 3 rebounds, two steals), Tyshawn Trail (8 points, 9 rebounds, four steals) and Nasir Griffin (7 points, 8 rebounds, three assists) all stuffed the stat sheet.
- With the win, the Warriors recorded its 11th consecutive true road win, setting a new program record. The road-winning streak began at Lock Haven on February 22, 2023, as ESU closed the 2022-23 season with a road win at West Chester in the PSAC Tournament. ESU's streak extended into the 2023-24 season with its road opener at Elizabeth City State. The Warriors improved to 9-0 on the season in away contests with its victory at Nelson Field House.
- Four Huskies reached double-figures, led by Matt Bengel's season-high 31 points (14-20 FG) and four steals.
- The Warriors got the job done on the charity stripe, knocking down 18-24 free throws (75%), compared to an 11-17 mark from BU.
- ESU also led in rebounds (39-34), bench points (21-11), steals (16-11), points off turnovers (29-14), points in the paint (58-44), second-chance points (14-12) and committed six less turnovers (13-19).
- With the win, ESU has now won six consecutive contests against Bloomsburg and 12 of the previous 14. ESU has not fallen at Nelson Fieldhouse since Feb. 22, 2012, a streak of 11 straight wins at Bloomsburg.
- Warrior head coach Jeff Wilson now has 396 career wins (396-199) as he approaches the 400-win milestone.
How It Happened
- After Bloomsburg opened the scoring with a layup, ESU scored six consecutive points with layups from McAliley, McGlone and Carson Howard. With the Warriors holding an 8-4 edge, the Huskies countered with a 7-0 run, retaking an 11-8 edge. As the teams continued to trade leads and points, an 8-0 Warrior run lifted ESU to a 23-18 advantage with 10:31 left in the first half. A 21-12 sprint extended ESU's lead to double digits at 44-33. BU outscored ESU, 6-5 over the final 1:33 of game clock, with ESU taking a 10-point lead at 49-39 into the locker room.
- In the second half, the longtime rivals continued to trade points. A 13-7 Bloomsburg run cut ESU's advantage to just six points at 68-62, before McAliely swished a triple. ESU looked to break away, taking nine-point leads at 73-64, 77-68 and 81-72, but the feisty Huskies continued to cut into ESU's lead. A quick 8-2 spurt from Bloomsburg slashed the Warrior lead to just three points at 83-80 with 5:21 to go.
- The Warriors needed to retake momentum and that they did. ESU scored nine consecutive points to take control of the game late, making both of its field goal attempts and 5-6 attempts from the stripe. Bengel recorded a pair of layups to make it an eight-point game with 2:11 left, but a Trail 3-pointer with 1:03 left put the game on ice at 95-84. Bengel wrapped up the scoring with a layup with 13 seconds remaining for the final score of 95-86.
Up Next
- ESU returns home to the friendly confines of Koehler Fieldhouse on Saturday, when the Warriors (15-2, 9-2 PSAC) welcome Millersville (13-4, 8-3 PSAC) to the Poconos in an important PSAC East clash. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. and is available to watch locally on Blue Ridge TV-13 and nationally on the PSAC Sports Digital Network.
