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** SCHEDULE UPDATES -- Saturday AM **

PSAC Final 4 at Koehler - Saturday (Preview / Info)
7pm Gannon (21-8) vs. Shippensburg (23-6)
9pm ESU (22-5) vs. Edinboro (18-10)

Sunday
5pm Championship game

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University broke open a two-point game with a 15-0 run midway through the second half, pulling away from Kutztown for an 85-71 win in the PSAC men's basketball quarterfinals on Wednesday night and earning the right to host this weekend's PSAC Final Four at Koehler Fieldhouse.

ESU (22-5), which has won eight straight and 11 of its last 12 games, will play Edinboro in the semifinals on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., following the first semifinal between Gannon and Shippensburg at 1 p.m.

The championship game will be played on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Sophomore forward Kobi Nwandu scored 17 points to lead five Warriors in double figures, and senior forward Ralik Wise had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Redshirt senior forward Steve Harris (10 points, 8 rebounds), senior guard Ryan Krawczeniuk (10 points, 4 assists) and redshirt junior guard Jakwan Jones (10 points, 4 assists) also hit double-figures, and junior guard Nick Giordano and redshirt junior forward Josh Williams scored nine each.

Anthony Lee scored 20 points, Moe Williams had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Ethan Ridgeway had 13 points for Kutztown (21-7) as ESU earned its third straight win over the Golden Bears this season - winning 101-95 on January 20 at Koehler, and 102-91 last Wednesday at Kutztown.

ESU advances to the PSAC Final Four for the seventh time in nine years, after making six straight trips from 2010-15, and is pursuing their fourth PSAC championship in school history, winning in 1990, 2012 and 2014.

The Warriors will host the PSAC Final Four for the third time, all in the last five rotations when the game has been played in the PSAC East - 2010, 2014 and 2018.

ESU won its eighth straight home PSAC Tournament game since falling to IUP in the 2010 semifinals, and improved to 11-2 in home playoff games overall under 16th-year head coach Jeff Wilson.

The Warriors are 13-2 at Koehler this season, and 108-23 since beginning their almost decade-long run of success in 2010.

They have won 14 of their last 18 meetings vs. Kutztown, including six of the last seven at Koehler, and improve to 3-0 vs. Kutztown in the PSAC Tournament - winning quarterfinal games at KU in 2011 and 2012, the latter propelling the Warriors to the PSAC title.

ESU led 42-39 after a tightly-contested first half, overcoming a nine-point deficit (28-19) with 8:45 left to lead at the break on a three-pointer by freshman guard Marc Rodriguez with five seconds left.

Lee scored seven of Kutztown's first 11 in the second half, and the Golden Bears cut an ESU lead that was as big as six points to two (54-52) on a jumper by Rafiq Marshall with 15:08 remaining.

ESU finished the game on a 31-19 run from there, including 15 straight in a span of more than seven minutes in which Kutztown was 0-for-14 from the field, 0-for-2 at the foul line and committed two turnovers.

Giordano and Krawczeniuk hit back-to-back three's to stretch the lead to 68-52 with 9:13 left, and it was 69-52 at the 7;55 mark before Williams ended the drought for Kutztown 10 seconds later.

Krawczeniuk scored five points and Wise had four in the run.

Kutztown ended up cutting a 19-point deficit (79-60) to 11 (79-68) with 2:28 remaining, but Jones hit a pair of free throws the next time down, Ridgeway missed a three and Williams had a putback to make it a 15-point game with just over 1:30 left.

ESU had a 44-29 rebounding advantage led by Wise (10 rebounds), Harris (8), Nwandu (6) and Williams (5) - its second-largest of the season for a team that had a -1.6 rebounding margin for the year, largely due to a 7.7 turnover margin that ranks second in Division II.

Kutztown averaged 20 turnovers in the first two meetings, but fought ESU to a 13-13 draw in turnovers on Wednesday night.

ESU shot 46.6 percent (27-for-58) overall, 7-for-24 from long distance and 24-for-29 at the line, led by Wise (7-for-9) and Jones (6-for-6).

Kutztown was 42.6 percent (26-for-61), 7-for-20 from three and 12-for-20 at the stripe.

Edinboro (18-10), ESU's opponent in Saturday's semifinal, is the PSAC West No. 4 seed and knocked off No. 1 seed IUP, 79-63, to reach its first PSAC Final Four since the Fighting Scots were runner-up in 2008.

Gannon (21-8), the PSAC West No. 2 seed, got by Slippery Rock, 77-70. Shippensburg (23-6), the defending PSAC champion and the PSAC East No. 3 seed, upended No. 2 seed West Chester on the road, 87-79.

ESU (2014), Gannon (2015) and Shippensburg (2017) have combined for three of the last four PSAC titles.


Updated NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings (Feb. 28, 2018)
1. Virginia State (22-3 DII, 21-3 in-region)
2. West Liberty (25-2, 25-2)
3. West Chester (20-5, 20-5)
4. East Stroudsburg (21-5, 21-5)
5. Wheeling Jesuit (22-5, 22-5)
6. IUP (22-7, 22-6)
7. Shippensburg (20-6, 20-6)
8. Kutztown (19-6, 19-6)
9. Fairmont State (21-7, 20-7)
10. Gannon (20-8, 19-8)