Top Two West Seeds, Bottom Two East Seeds Advance in PSAC Men's Basketball Tournament
No. 3 seed West Chester and No. 4 seed East Stroudsburg both scored upset victories on the road in Tuesday's quarterfinals while the seeds held in the West with No. 1 and two-time defending tournament champion IUP and No. 2 seed Mercyhurst both winning. With the upsets in the East, West Chester will now host the semifinal and championship on Friday and Saturday.
Mercyhurst 77, Slippery Rock 69
In what was a close contest for most of the game, Mercyhurst turned a four-point lead into a 14-point advantage by going on a 12-2 run in just over a four-minute span that was capped with just over four minutes remaining in the game and the Lakers held on down the stretch for a 77-69 win over The Rock. The win avenges a loss to Rock in last year's quarterfinal round for the Lakers and sends them to the PSAC Tournament semifinals for the first time in school history in this, their fourth year in the PSAC. Slippery Rock outrebounded Mercyhurst by 11, 43-32 and the teams almost shot an identical percentage from the field but Rock committed 20 turnovers to just 11 for Mercyhurst, while the Lakers made 20-of-28 free throws compared to just 4-of-8 for Slippery Rock. The Lakers were led by Matt Lee's 19 points and five assists while Luis Leao had 18 and Bill Weaver 11. Rock was led by Devin Taylor, who had 18 points and eight rebounds while Torrance Timothy had 13 and Aubin Reeves chipped in with 12.
East Stroudsburg 99, Kutztown 91
Terrance King's offensive rebound, putback and three-point play with just over six seconds remaining in regulation forced overtime and the Warriors then doubled up Kutztown in the extra period as East Stroudsburg upset top-seeded Kutztown 99-91. The win advances the Warriors to the PSAC Tournament semifinals for the third straight year. The Warriors were outrebounded by the Golden Bears, 50-43 but shot 10 percentage points better than Kutztown from the field. They were led by King's career-high 32 points and 10 rebounds. He made 11-of-19 from the field and 10-of-11 from the floor. Russell Graham III scored 19 and dished out nine assists while Whis Grant had 16, including 10-for-10 from the charity stripe and Duane Johnson added 12. Kutztown was led by Micah Fraction's 34 points and five assists and he made 13-of-14 from the free throw line. Devon McBride posted a double-double with 18 points and 15 boards while Eric Brennan added 17 and Abdul King hauled in 11 boards. The game was a physical contest as the teams combined for 55 fouls (28 on ESU, 27 by Kutztown) and Kutztown shot 29-of-41 from the free throw line while ESU made 32-of-39.
IUP 74, California 70
Two-time defending PSAC Tournament champion IUP led California by as many as 18 points midway through the second half but were unable to put away the pesky Vulcans, who battled back to within one point with 1:40 remining. But IUP made 8-of-10 free throws in the final 1:20 of the contest to hold on for a 74-70 win over California. The teams were meeting in the quarterfinals for the second straight year. With the win, IUP earns the chance to play for its third straight title as the Hawks aim to become the first PSAC team to win three straight titles since Cheyney won five straight from 1976-80. IUP was led by Julian Sanders, who scored 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Marcel Souberbielle added 15 while Ashton Smith had 14 along with nine assists. Cal, which outrebounded IUP 39-27, has led by a trio of players that each scored 12 points - Steve Swiech, Travon Vann and Chad Tipton, while Tynell Fortune added 11.
West Chester 83, Bloomsburg 70
West Chester raced out to a fast start, taking an 8-0 lead as Bloomsburg committed turnovers on its first eight possessions, and the Golden Rams never looked back or trailed for the remainder of the contest as they topped Bloomsburg for the third time this season, 83-70. Bloomsburg only committed eight more turnovers for the remainder of the game but were unable to dig themselves out of the early hole as West Chester shot 47.4 percent from the floor and only committed 11 turnovers on their own while recording assists on 17 of their 27 field goals. The Rams were led by Carl Johnson' 19 points while Lance McDowell recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Khalif Foster scored 11 while Jon Breeden had 10 along with eight assists. Trevon Johnson and Lorenzo Christmas each scored 19 to lead the Huskies while Larry Webster had 10. Leading scorer Dontahe Jordan was held to just nine points but had 12 rebounds.
PSAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Semifinals - Friday, March 2 (at West Chester)
Mercyhurst vs. East Stroudsburg, 5:30 p.m.
IUP vs. West Chester, 7:30 p.m.
Championship - Saturday, March 3 (at West Chester)
Mercyhurst/East Stroudsburg vs. IUP/West Chester, 7:00 p.m.