EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — The ESU men’s basketball team is set to host Shippensburg at Koehler Fieldhouse at 7:30 p.m. Monday night for a first-round matchup in the PSAC Tournament.

GAME INFORMATION

ESU Athletics encourages all fans to wear black for the men's and women's doubleheader in the first round of the PSAC Tournament. ESU students who attend the games and wear black will get free pizza, courtesy of Palumbo's. Make sure to get to Koehler Fieldhouse before the women's team tips off against Millersville at 5:30 p.m., and stick around for the men's team to take on Shippensburg at approximately 7:30 p.m.

SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG

• The Warriors finished the regular season with a 14-7 conference record and 20-8 overall record. Ending up as the fourth seed, ESU fell to West Chester in the final game of the season, but had won its last four before that.
• ESU averages 88.9 PPG, the second best in the conference, but allows 79.0 PPG on defense, falling in the bottom third of the PSAC.
• The Warriors get plenty of help in scoring throughout their roster, with only one team in Division II averaging more PPG from its bench than ESU. The Warriors’ second unit averages 44.0 PPG.
• ESU runs a very efficient and balanced offense this year, evident by its rankings in field goal percentage and assists per game. The Warriors have shot 48.0% from the field, third best in the conference, and average 17.9 APG, which is second in the PSAC and 12th in Division II.
• The Warriors get plenty of production from their work on the glass as well, averaging the eighth-most ORPG in the country with 14.9. As a team, ESU has out-rebounded its opponents by a margin of 5.9 RPG, the third best in the PSAC.
• Four players ended the regular season averaging double-digit scoring on a per game basis, with Adrian Brito leading the way. The freshman is wrapping up his first campaign with 12.4 PPG on 61.1% shooting from the field, leading the team in both categories.
• Ethan Maynard has played his best basketball when he’s gone up against PSAC East competition, and he’ll look to continue that trend in the postseason. Averaging 12.0 PPG in his first season with ESU, he’s shooting just over 40.0% from the field and three-point range. 
• Nasir Griffin looks to end his four-year career with ESU on a high note after recently joining the 1,000-point club and averaging 11.1 PPG on the season. Griffin has been the team’s most frequent free-throw shooter, taking 118 attempts and making 88 for a 74.6% FT%.
• Keni Williams bumped his scoring average up to an even 10.0 PPG on the season with a strong outing off the bench against West Chester. The freshman guard has alternated double-digit scoring games over his last five contests, averaging 11.6 PPG during the stretch.
• When Maynard comes off the floor, the Warriors don’t lose their threat from three-point range, bringing on Ethan Millirons in his place. The senior has shot lights-out from deep this season, leading the conference with a 47.2 3P% on 68-144 shooting.
• Few players in the PSAC are able to match both Jalen Pichardo’s production on the glass and efficiency in the paint. Pichardo grabs the most offensive rebounds per game in the conference with 3.6, and shoots 60.7 from the field as well.

SCOUTING SHIPPENSBURG

• The Raiders enter the postseason after an up-and-down final month to their schedule, going 3-5 in February to end the season 14-14 overall and 9-12 in conference. During that stretch, they did beat West Chester 85-74 on Feb. 7, but also suffered a loss to Kutztown 72-66 in their next game.
• The Raiders are middle of the pack in the conference on both ends of the floor when it comes to scoring, finishing the year with the 12th-best scoring offense in the conference with 75.3 PPG, and the eighth-best scoring defense with 76.2 PPG.
• The one thing the Raiders do notably well compared to the rest of the PSAC is limit their turnovers. Only committing 11.6 TPG, Shippensburg ranks fourth in that category. However, in their last game at East Stroudsburg, Shippensburg turned the ball over 18 times, their second-most turnovers of the season. In the first meeting, they recorded 13 turnovers, still slightly above its season average.
• The Raiders are led by Markus Frank, one of the top scorers in the conference. Coming into the postseason, Frank is averaging 18.6 PPG, the fourth-best average in the conference. Frank did not play in the second meeting, which ESU won 76-64 on Feb. 14, but scored 20 points in Shippensburg’s 82-80 win in Shippensburg against the Warriors on Jan. 17.
• Right behind Frank in scoring is Jaydon Smith. Averaging 15.1 PPG, Smith has shot 49.0% from the field and is the Raiders’ best three-point shooter, making 41.1% of his attempts from distance. 
• Rounding out Shippensburg’s top-three scorers is Michael Dickson with 12.5 PPG. Dickson also leads the team in assists, recording 4.0 APG.
• All three of Shippensburg’s top scorers have attempted over 100 free throws this season. Smith leads that group with an 81.4% FT%, while Dickson has made 77.5% and Frank 68.6% of their attempts, respectively.
• Shippensburg doesn’t have anyone stand out as a rebounder on the scoresheet, but they do have four players averaging over 4.0 RPG. Denzel Figueroa has the most with 5.5 RPG, and Jackson Boone is a close second with 4.8 RPG. Frank is right there with that duo, averaging 4.6 RPG with a nearly 50-50 split between defensive and offensive rebounds on the season.
• In addition to Smith from the perimeter, Timmy Conner hasn’t been afraid to let it fly from three-point range. He leads the team in attempts, making 52-137 for a 38.0% 3P%.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Warriors and Raiders are nearly deadlocked in their all-time series history, with ESU winning 63 of the 124 meetings. Despite their history going back to 1960 when the series became consistent, the two teams have only played each other in the postseason four times, two of them being in the PSAC Tournament. Shippensburg has won both games, 86-74 in 2023 and 85-71 in 2017, with the former in Koehler Fieldhouse and the latter being in Shippensburg. The Warriors did win an NCAA Tournament game against the Raiders between those contests, winning 84-72 in 2018.
• ESU has won seven of the last eight games against Shippensburg, going back to the 2023-24 season.