SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – Holding a five-point lead at halftime, the East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team outscored Shepherd by 14 points in the second half to capture a 66-47 road win on Saturday afternoon in the PSAC East opener at the Butcher Center.
With the win, the Warriors (11-1, 6-1 PSAC ) extend their winning streak to six. The Rams (5-7, 2-5 PSAC East) fall in its second consecutive PSAC matchup.
ESU held Shepherd to just 26 points in the first half and 21 points in the second half in a strong defensive effort.
Notables
- ESU was led in scoring by Justin Paz, who knocked down half of field goal attempts (4-8 FG), including three triples on six attempts.
- Lakeem McAliley neared a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds, adding a pair of assists. He knocked down 7-10 attempts from the free-throw line.
- Tyshawn Trail (11 pts.) and Cam Young (10 pts.) also reached double figures in scoring.
- Nasir Griffin added eight points, four rebounds and recorded three steals. Jaelen McGlone also tallied three swipes against the Rams and brought down five rebounds. Jalen Pichardo brought down four rebounds in nine minutes of action.
- Shepherd was led by Dan McClain-Corley (11 pts.), Phillip Jordan (10 pts.) and Marcus Banks (8 pts., 8 reb., 2 steals).
- The Warriors led in field goal percentage (35.4% - 32.7%), 3-point field goal percentage (33.3% - 10.5 %), rebounds (35-34), assists (11-6), bench points (17-15), steals (7-4), points off turnovers (21-9), got to the line 11 more times and made 10 more free throws (23-32, 13-21), free throw percentage (71.9% - 61.9%).
- In the balanced victory, nine Warriors scored points, seven knocked down a 3-pointer, nine brought down at least one rebound, while eight players accounted for 11 assists.
- ESU improves to 7-4 all-time against Shepherd and is now 2-2 against the Rams at the Butcher Center.
How It Happened
- Points were hard to come by in the defensive contest, as ESU took a 14-7 lead with 11:33 remaining in the first half after a triple from Griffin. A 7-0 outburst from Shepherd over the near two-minute run tied the contest back at 14-14. As the teams traded points, the Warriors closed the first half on a 10-4 run over the final 3:23 of game clock, taking a 31-26 lead into the locker room.
- After Shepherd opened the second-half scoring with a jumper, the Warriors built a double-digit lead at 40-29 edge following a 9-1 surge. ESU maintained a lead of at least seven points the rest of the way, taking a game-high advantage of 19 points with the final points of the contest. ESU closed the game on a 21-9 surge, which included a 12-18 mark from the stripe over the final 6:42 of game clock.
Up Next
- ESU is idle from competition until Wed., Jan. 10, when the Warriors face Goldey-Beacom in the non-conference finale at Koehler Fieldhouse. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. on the PSAC Sports Digital Network and esuwarriors.com/watch.
