MBSK12-8-00

ESU-New Haven Men's Basketball

EAST STROUDSBURG - Guard R.C. Kehoe is alive and well and feeding off assists and hitting three-pointers in the LeRoy J. Koehler Fieldhouse.

Kehoe, East Stroudsburg University's colorful point guard, broke out of a serious slump with his best performance of the season in leading the Warriors to a 67-62 win over New Haven in the first round of the 36th Rotary Pocono Classic Basketball Tournament.

The Warriors (4-2) will play St. Anselm (5-2) in the championship game tonight at 7:30 p.m. The consolation contest at 5:30 will match New Haven (1-7) against West Liberty (3-4). St. Anselm beat West Liberty, 76-60, in the other first round game as guard Todd Manuel scored 25 points.

Kehoe dished off 10 assists, the second highest of his career, and buried five three-pointers in eight attempts in scoring 15 points. He made 11 assists last year in a win over Kutztown. He came into the game shooting only 29 percent from the floor and averaging 4.0 assists per game.

On the other end of Kehoe's passes were Juwan Justice, who scored a team-season high 20 points and Shahad Abdur-Rahkman, who contributed 18 points. The Warriors' big three thus accounted for 53 of the team's 67 points.

The Warriors led throughout the game after breaking a 2-2 tie with six straight points. Kehoe hit his first three-pointer, Mike Collins canned a free throw and Justice made a layup after a pass from Kehoe.

ESU led by as many as 15 points, 24-9 and then 27-12, in the first half as Kehoe had seven of his assists. The halftime difference was 34-24.

New Haven battled back in the second half and got as close as four points at 49-45 with 7:59 left. Kehoe hit a three-pointer, however, to open the margin again.

The Chargers continually scored on offensive rebounds including four of them down the stretch to stay in striking range. They closed within four points again at 66-62 with 32 seconds left and regained possession of the ball. But Sam Smith missed a shot and then Aldoni Alberdi was called for walking after grabbing the rebound and the Warriors ran out the clock.

Both teams shot well with ESU connecting on 49 percent of its field goal attempts (23 for 47 including 11 of 21 on three-pointers) and New Haven hitting 51 percent of its tries (26 for 51 and 4 for 8 on 'threes'). The Chargers had a 34-27 rebounding edge with Washington and ESU's Mike Collins the game leaders with ten apiece.

ESU Men's Basketball (-2-)

ESU (4-2) 67

Abdur-Rahkman 7 1-3 18, Smith 0 1-2 1, Justice 7 3-4 20, Kostic 0 0-0 0, Bishop 0 3-4 3, Kehoe 5 0-3 15, Kelley 0 0-0 0, Collins 3 1-2 7, Wimmer 0 0-0 0, Georges 1 1-2 3, Driscoll 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 10-20 67

New Haven (1-7) 62

Lee 0 0-0 0, Washington 6 4-7 16, Janda 0 0-0 0, Wright 4 0-1 8, Scatliffe 7 1-1 16, Smith 4 1-5 10, Tyrrell 1 0-0 6, Alberdi 3 0-0 6. Totals: 26 6-14 62

Three-Point Goals: ESU - Kehoe 5, Justice 3, Rahkman 3; NH - Tyrrell 2, Scatliffe, Smith

Halftime: ESU, 34-24

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St. Anselm (5-2) 76

Delany 1 0-0 2, Manuel 6 11-12 25, Zieja 5 0-0 10, Sheehy 3 2-2 8, Dunn 2 1-2 5,

Priest 0 0-0 0, Hendershot 0 0-0 0, Glasson 0 0-0 0, Poblete 1 0-0 3, Seltzer 0 0-0 0, Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Hoffman 2 7-9 11, Cadet 0 0-0 0, Murphy 4 2-2 12 Totals: 24 23-27 76

West Liberty (3-4) 60

Jebbia 3 1-2 7, Miller 4 5-7 14, Gilbert 4 2-2 11, Jackson 2 6-7 11, Ring 0 2-2 2,

Mishler 0 0-0 0, Hoyng, S. 0 0-0 0, Hoyng, J.T. 4 0-0 10, Gabriel 0 0-0 0, Harper 0 0-0 0, Baker 1 0-0 2, Smouse 0 0-1 1, Moerschel 1 0-0 2

Three-Point Goals: St. Anselm - Manuel 2, Murphy 2, Poblete; W. Liberty - J.T.

Hoyng 2, Miller, Gilbert, Jackson

Halftime: St. Anselm, 39-36