CALIFORNIA, Pa. — The East Stroudsburg men's basketball team fell 91-72 to California (Pa.) in the Warriors' first game of the New Year, dropping to 7-4 overall.
NOTABLES
- Nasir Griffin was the lone Warrior to score over 10 points, finishing with 12. Griffin, last week's PSAC East Offense Athlete of the Week award winner, shot 75.0% from three-point range and grabbed seven rebounds.
- Jalen Pichardo reached double-digit rebounds for the fourth time in the past seven games. Pichardo finished the game with 12 total rebounds, grabbing eight off the offensive glass.
- The Warriors tried out a different tng his first start as an extra guard. Payne played 19 minutes and scored nine points on 50.0% shooting from the field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The game went back-and-forth as Christian Pierre-Louis started the scoring for ESU and Jalen Pichardo made a second-chance layup for the starting five, and then the second unit came on shortly after to fuel a run that extended the Warriors' lead. Carson Howard added a quick five points with a three pointer and a layup to start the stretch, followed up by Keni Williams and Griffin making threes, and ending with a jumper from Pierre-Louis to put ESU ahead, 20-14.
- However, shortly after, the Vulcans surged ahead and went on a 17-4 run to take a 38-27 lead just before the half. Both teams traded baskets during the final two minutes of the first half, with California carrying a 48-36 lead into the break.
- Coming out of halftime, the Vulcans carried over their play from the final 10 minutes of the first half to the first 10 minutes of the second half. ESU was unable to cut its deficit to single digits, and California's lead hit the 20-point mark with 11:23 remaining. The margin remained within a basket of 20 points for the majority of final 11 minutes, with the Vulcans winning 91-72.
GAME NOTES
- Both teams each led by a wide margin in different categories, as the Warriors shut out the Vulcans in second chance points, 27-0, but California scored 34 fast-break points to ESU's two.
- There were six lead changes and three ties in the first 12:13 of play before California went on its run to go ahead for the remainder of play.
UP NEXT
ESU wraps up its road trip with an afternoon game at Slippery Rock tomorrow, taking on The Rock at 3 p.m.
