LHU Men’s Basketball upsets #10/7 ESU, closes in on top seed
LOCK HAVEN – In a heated battle for first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division postseason race, the Lock Haven men’s basketball team grinded out a 74-69 upset-victory over nationally-ranked East Stroudsburg, in front of an Electric Thomas Fieldhouse crowd on Wednesday night (Feb. 14).
The victory marks the first time in program-history that the Bald Eagles down a top-10 nationally-ranked opponent twice in one season.
Lock Haven improves to 16-6 overall and 13-3 in the PSAC to move into a tie for first place with ESU and Millersville. The Bald Eagles hold the tiebreaker over ESU, but will need to take down Millersville at home on the final game of the season to earn the series split.
Collin Jones (Lock Haven, Pa./Central Mountain) was a monster off the bench for Lock Haven and scored his Bald Eagle career-high with 28 points and seven rebounds. The graduate senior knocked down 8-of-9 shots at the line and 2-of-2 from deep.
Justice Shoats (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Holy Redeemer) with 19 points, but it was his calm play at point guard that helped the Bald Eagles withstand 40 minutes of the Warriors’ full-court press. Shoats made all nine of his foul shots and pulled in four rebounds.
Dyson Darward (Danville, Pa./Danville) rounded out the Bald Eagles in double figures with 11 points, including an electric dunk in transition that brought the crowd to their feet.
Bryson Scott (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) was another key component of the Bald Eagles’ second unit, providing 25-quality minutes while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
After ESU scored on back-to-back possessions to start the game, the Bald Eagles scored five straight, highlighted by a Harward triple to take an early lead that they would never relinquish.
Lock Haven led by as much as 13 in the first half, before carrying a 39-30 advantage into the break.
The Bald Eagles knocked down five three-pointers in the first half, but it was their defense that told the story as Lock Haven held the high-flying Warriors’ offense to just 31 percent shooting from the floor.
ESU cut the deficit to single-digits with seven minutes to go in the game, before cutting Lock Haven’s lead to one score following the under-four media timeout.
However, Lock Haven, as they did all night, continued to break through the relentless Warriors’ full-court press and knocked down its free throws to close out the exciting victory.
Foul trouble plagued both teams, but it was Lock Haven who won the battle at the charity stripe, as they knocked down 87 percent for a game-high 21 points. ESU shot just 63 percent at the line for 12 makes.
The Bald Eagles led 19-7 in points-off-turnovers, 16-10 in fast break points and 31-23 in bench points.
NEXT UP
The Bald Eagles travel to Shepherd University on Saturday (Feb. 17) for a 3 p.m. PSAC East contest.
