MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – In a back-and-forth PSAC Quarterfinal that featured 12 lead changes and 14 tied scores and neither team leading by more than eight points at any point, the No. 14/18 East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team could not respond to a late run by Millersville, with the Marauders earning a 74-66 win at Pucillo Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.
The Warriors (25-5) find out if they have earned one of five at-large selections from the NCAA DII Atlantic Region during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 11:00 p.m. The PSAC East No. 2 seed Marauders (24-5) advance to the PSAC Semifinal round and will battle PSAC West No. 1 seed Gannon at the Hagerty Family Events Center on Saturday with a trip to the PSAC Championship game on the line.
ESU led 66-65 with 2:56 remaining, but the Marauders held the Warriors scoreless from that point on, knocking down 6-8 attempts from the free-throw line and 1-2 attempts from the field over the final two-plus minutes to pick up the 74-66 victory.
Notables
- Lakeem McAliley (22 pts., 8 reb., 1 stl., 1 blk.) and Nasir Griffin (17 pts., 4-6 3PT, 7 reb., 1 stl.) combined for 39 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and a block to lead the Warriors.
- Jaelen McGlone distributed a game-high four assists. Tyshawn Trail tallied a pair of steals and grabbed four rebounds.
- In the latest NCAA DII Atlantic Region Rankings released on Wednesday afternoon, ESU was slotted sixth, with the Warriors looking ahead to the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday.
- ESU has rooting interest in Gannon, California (Pa.) or Millersville to capture the PSAC title, along with Charleston or West Liberty to win the MEC Championship, with all five teams currently ranking ahead of ESU in the region rankings. The CIAA Champion will also get an earned-access selection in the region, which leaves one at-large spot remaining up for grabs, which the Warriors seek.
- Concord (No. 7 in the Atlantic Region) Lock Haven (No. 8), West Virginia State (No. 9) and Fairmont State (No. 10) round out the teams listed In Wednesday's NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings.
- ESU is now 23-18 all-time in the PSAC Tournament, 5-9 on the road and 11-10 in the quarterfinal round.
- ESU's 25 wins ranks third all-time in program history for wins in a single season. Only the 2017-18 team (27-6) and the 2013-14 squad (30-2) have posted more victories.
How It Happened
- Neither team held a lead of greater than four points until a Jaden Faulkner layup lifted the Marauders to a 21-17 lead with 7:34 remaining in the first half. The Warriors quickly erased the deficit, using an 8-2 advantage to take a 25-23 edge. The Marauders surged on an 11-4 run to take a 36-31 halftime lead.
- ESU grabbed momentum after the intermission, using an 11-2 sprint of their own to take a 42-38 advantage. A 9-0 spurt from Millersville gave a five-point lead to Millersville at 47-42. The Warriors responded with an impressive 15-4 sprint to take its largest lead of the night at 57-51. Griffin drained back-to-back 3-pointers in the run, while Shamir Johnson also knocked down a triple.
- An 10-2 Marauders' run lifted 'Ville to a 65-61 lead with 4:55 remaining. Griffin answered with his fourth triple on five attempts and added a layup to give ESU a 66-65 edge with 2:56 remaining.
- That marked ESU's last point of the game, with Millersville scoring the final nine points of the game to earn the 74-66 win.
Up Next
- With the loss, ESU is eliminated from the PSAC Tournament and awaits its fate in the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, March 10th at 11:00 p.m. The NCAA DII Selection Show will broadcast on NCAA.com.
