The Griffins returned to the court after a fifteen day break as they hosted #25 and previously undefeated East Stroudsburg on Sunday afternoon.
Sean Dillon's three pointer with 1.2 seconds to play gave the Griffins a 77-76 victory over the Warriors as the Griffins gave the Warriors their first loss of the season. SHU is now 6-3 overall and 1-2 in the PSAC while ESU drops to 8-1 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC.
SHU took an early 9-4 lead over the Warriors at the first media timeout of the half. Dillon and
Drew Green each hit three pointers in the run. A three pointer from the Warriors cut the lead to 14-11 with 14:11 to play in the half but the Griffins scored a quick five points in just over a minute as they built their lead to 19-11. Four straight points from
Samuel Tabe extended the SHU lead to 23-14 midway through the half.
The Warriors scored four straight to cut the lead to five but three straight layups from Tabe,
Caleb Whitaker and
Gabe Gillespie along with a
Jimmy Moon three pointer gave SHU a 32-18 advantage with 8:27 left in the half. ESU then responded with an 11-0 run as they trailed by just three with 5:26 remaining before the half. SHU took a 41-36 lead into the halftime break.
East Stroudsburg tied the score at 42 early in the second half but three pointers from Green and Moon and a basket from Tabe put SHU back in front 50-42 with 17:53 to play in the half. The Warriors took their first lead of the game at 54-52 with 13:24 to play. Over the next seven minutes, the teams would just exchange leads. There were two ties and four lead changes over the seven minute stretch. A quick 5-0 run from the Warriors gave them a 66-61 lead with just over five minutes left.
SHU fought back to tie the game at 68 with just over three minutes to play. Moon's three pointer answered a ESU basket as SHU took a 71-70 lead with 2:34 to go. He followed that with another three pointer to put SHU in front by four with 1:46 left. ESU hit three of four free throws to trim the Griffins lead to 74-73 with 28 seconds to play. ESU then got a steal and a dunk and foul for a three point play as they took a 76-74 lead with 19 seconds to play. That play set up the Dillon magic. Dillon ran the clock down and hit a step back three pointer with 1.2 seconds to play for the game winning basket for the Griffins.
Moon led the Griffins with a game high 20 points on five three pointers. Tabe finished with 17 points. Dillon also reached double figures with 10 points. Whitaker pulled down 11 rebounds for SHU.
The Griffins return to action on Monday afternoon when they host Kutztown in a PSAC Crossover matchup.
