EAST STROUDSBURG – Behind six double-figure scorers, the No. 15 East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team began the game on a 22-4 run and cruised to a 118-68 win over Bloomsburg on Wednesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.
The Warriors (22-3, 16-3 PSAC) are now deadlocked with just Millersville for first place in the PSAC East, as Lock Haven fell to Mansfield on Wednesday. The Huskies (5-20, 3-16 PSAC) fall in its third straight contest.
Notables
- Lakeem McAliley led the Warriors with 24 points (9-10 FG, 1-2 3PT) in just 19 minutes on the floor. He brought down three rebounds.
- Tyshawn Trail added 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.
- Carson Howard, Nasir Griffin, Justin Paz and Mike Ramos round out the double figure scorers with 10 points each. Griffin neared a double-double with eight rebounds. Paz tied for the team lead with six assists and tallied three steals in 18 minutes. Ramos' 10 points are a new career-high after reaching nine points twice last season.
- Shamir Johnson knocked down three 3-pointers for nine points, along with three assists. Jaelen McGlone posted eight points, five rebounds and five steals. Jalen Pichardo cleaned the glass with seven rebounds in 12 minutes. In just nine minutes, Jaheim Bethea registered six points and six assists. Zion Darby matched his career-high with six points. Jack Farrell posted a pair of steals in seven minutes.
- Jagger Dressler led Bloomsburg with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Louie Wild added 16 points. Mondyu Richards posted 11 points, while Mikey Bengel totaled 10 points.
- ESU matched its season-high in offensive rebounds with 20, tallying 33 second-change points to Bloomsburg's five.
- The Warriors led 48-26 in rebounding, as its +22 rebound margins tied for the third most in a PSAC contest under head coach Jeff Wilson.
- ESU also led in assists (28-15), bench points (65-3), fastbreak points (36-7), steals (15-4) and points in the paint (68-34).
- Justin Paz was honored for scoring his 1,000th career point pregame, becoming the 35th member of the 1,000-point club on Feb. 3rd against Shepherd. Paz joins Warrior legend Whis Grant as the only Warriors to score 1,000 points, knock down 150 3-pointers and distribute 300 assists in program history.
How It Happened
- With score tied at 2-2, the Warriors took full control early, as ESU embarked on a 20-2 sprint over 5:48 of clock. Bloomsburg used an 8-2 lead to cut the deficit to 12 points at 24-12, but ESU was able to respond with a 15-6 surge to grab a 39-18 advantage. With the Warriors leading 44-26, ESU stepped on the gas, closing the first half on a 15-0 run to take a 59-26 lead into the locker room.
- Holding a commanding lead, the Warriors never relented, holding an advantage on the scoreboard between 27 and 50 points the entire 20-minute second half.
Up Next
- In a battle at the top of the PSAC East standings, No. 15 ESU (22-3, 16-3 PSAC) heads to Millersville (22-3, 16-3 PSAC) on Saturday. With a win, ESU secures the season sweep and would hold the potential tiebreaker against the Marauders. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.
