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ESU Warriors: Men's basketball comes up short, women's wrestling shines

courtesy esu athletics
·6 min read

Editor's Note: Notes from ESU provides a recap of sports events and is compiled of reports provided by East Stroudsburg University. Read more about ESU Athletics online at esuwarriors.com.

Warriors comeback bid comes up just short at Shepherd

Despite an admirable comeback, Shepherd ultimately handed the Warriors its second loss of the season, 94-88, at a recent game inside the Butcher Center.
Despite an admirable comeback, Shepherd ultimately handed the Warriors its second loss of the season, 94-88, at a recent game inside the Butcher Center.

Trailing by as many as 19 points in the second half, the No. 14/20 East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team sliced the deficit to as low as four points, but Shepherd ultimately handed the Warriors its second loss of the season, 94-88, at a recent matchup inside the Butcher Center.

The Warriors (14-2, 8-2 PSAC) sees its six-game winning streak come to a close, while the Rams (9-7, 6-4 PSAC) pick up its second consecutive victory.

Shepherd led by 11 points at halftime, extending its lead to a game-high 19 points at 61-42 with 14:56 to go in the second half. After a Jaelen McGlone 3-pointer sliced the SU edge to just four points at 82-78, the Rams outscored the Warriors 14-10 over the final three-plus minutes to earn the 94-88 win.

Notables

  • Carlos Pepin, who was limited in the first half offensively, finished with 19 points, three rebounds and distributed five assists. Lakeem McAliley totaled 18 points, draining all eight of his free-throw attempts from the line. Jaelen McGlone (14 pts.) and Shamir Johnson (12 pts.) also reached double-figures for the Warriors.

  • ESU, who entered the game ranked fifth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage and sixth in steals per game, struggled in both categories, as the Rams made 51.9 percent of its 3-pointers and ESU could only come up with three steals. SU turned the ball over 10 times, the fewest turnovers forced by ESU this season.

  • Leading the charge for Shepherd was Dan McClain-Corley, who sunk 7-of-10 attempts from 3-point land for 32 points and seven rebounds. He was helped by Jon Preston (15 pts.), Aidan Hughley (12 pts.) and Stefan Marchelle (12 pts., 9 reb.) who all reached double-figures in scoring.

  • The Warriors are now tied with Shippensburg (10-6, 8-2 PSAC) for first place in the PSCA East. ESU currently holds the tiebreaker over Ship, with its 108-78 victory at Heiges Field House on Jan. 4.

  • ESU is now 4-4 all-time against Shepherd and are 2-3 against the Rams at SU.

How it happened

  • The Warriors built a 9-3 advantage, as Shepherd would cut the deficit to one point at 15-14 following an 11-6 run. A McAliley 3-pointer gave the Warriors a two-point advantage, as ESU took a 22-16 lead at the 9:56 mark.

  • The game flipped momentum, as the Rams used a 12-0 run to take a 28-22 edge. Davon Lee ended the spree with a triple, but SU answered with a triple of its own. The teams continued to trade treys, as the Warriors trailed 31-28 with four minutes to go.

  • SU continued its strong mark from beyond the arc, using a 15-7 run to close the frame, taking an 11-point lead over the nationally-ranked Warriors with a 49-38 advantage.

  • The Rams started the second-half strong, building a game-high 19-point lead at 61-42 following a 13-4 run. The Warriors never conceded, slicing the deficit to just seven points at 65-58.

  • Shepherd's lead lengthened to 11 and hovered between five and 10 points, until a McGlone 3-pointer with 3:08 to go made it a four-point contest at 82-78.

  • Unfortunately for ESU, McClain-Corley answered with his sixth and seventh 3-pointers, to extend the lead back to double-digits.

  • The furious Warriors saw its deficit grow to 12 with 58 seconds remaining and down to four points with seven seconds to go in the final minute, but ran out of time. SU iced the game with four-made free throws for the final score of 96-88.

More updates on men's basketball: After extending its winning streak to six following victories against Bloomsburg and Millersville, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Division II Sports Information Director's of America (D2SIDA) announced on Tuesday that the East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team is now ranked 14th in the NABC Coaches Poll and 20th in the D2SIDA Media Poll.

ESU's 14th ranking in the NABC Poll is the program's best since Nov. 22, 2014, when ESU began the 2014-15 season ranked No. 4 in the country. The Warriors (14-1, 8-1 PSAC) currently sit atop of the PSAC Eastern Division with an 8-1 conference record. The Warriors did

Through 15 games this season, ESU ranks among the nation's best in scoring margin (2nd, +23.3), scoring offense (3rd, 96.1 ppg), 3-point defense (5th, 28.4%), assists per game (6th, 19.3 apg), steals per game (6th, 10.4), turnovers forced per game (7th, 18.6), turnover margin (9th, 5.3) field goal percentage (10th, 51.2%) and rebounds per game (12th, 41.5) among 290 NCAA Division II teams.

Pepin and McAliley, who were named to the Bevo Francis Top-100 Watch List, continue to lead the Warriors and rank among the best in the conference and country in several categories.

Up next: The Warriors return to Koehler Fieldhouse on Sat., January 21 at 3:00 p.m. against West Chester. The game will be broadcasted regionally on Blue Ridge TV-13, nationally simulcasted on the PSAC Sports Digital Network and on the radio dials on Bigfoot Country 103.1 FM, 840 AM and online at Bigfootpoconos.com.

ESU Women's Wrestling shines, 3 Warriors make national rankings

ESU wrestlers Emily Klein, Mia Macaluso and Zoe Gress have climbed in the national rankings.
ESU wrestlers Emily Klein, Mia Macaluso and Zoe Gress have climbed in the national rankings.

The National Wrestling Coaching Association recently announced its updated NCAA Women's Coaches Rankings, as the East Stroudsburg University women's wrestling team is now ranked 11th nationally in the team rankings, while Zoe Gress, Emily Klein and Mia Macaluso continue to be nationally ranked as individuals.

Klein is ranked No. 7 at 116, Macaluso is sixth at 123, while Gress ranks eighth at 143. All three Warriors were among six ESU wrestlers who took first place at the Will Abele Open.

Klein (20-3) leads ESU with 20 wins on the season, bouncing back from her first loss in 16 matches on Jan. 8 with three consecutive wins at the Will Abele Open hosted by Ursinus after a pin and a pair of tech falls. Of her 20 wins, 10 have come by pin and seven have been earned from tech falls. She avenged her latest loss on Jan. 8 to Jocelyn Lass of Ursinus, by earning a 12-2 tech fall victory in the first-place match against Lass on Jan. 15.

Macaluso improved her season record to 15-5 with three consecutive wins at the Will Abele Open, picking up two tech falls and a 14-8 decision win in the first-place match. She has earned victories in seven of her past 10 matches, currently holding six pints and seven tech falls in 2022-23.

Gress is currently riding a six-match winning streak after a pin, a tech fall and decision victory on Jan. 15 to win 143 at the Will Abele Open. She now holds a season-record of 11-4 with six pins and a tech fall.

Sofia Macaluso (12-1) dropped out of the national rankings after missing recent action due to injury.

Up next: No. 11 ESU will battle No.7/8 Sacred Heart on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. inside Koehler Fieldhouse in the Warriors' lone home dual match of the season.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Notes from ESU: Warriors move up in rankings for basketball, wrestling