Box Score East Stroudsburg, Pa. - East Stroudsburg is the nation's No. 2-ranked team for a reason. Millersville kept Tuesday's PSAC Tournament quarterfinal game within reach until the top-seeded Warriors pulled away down the stretch and advanced by a 78-58 final.

Millersville (13-14) trailed the 26-1 Warriors by just nine points after a Kelvin Parker dunk with 4:46 remaining. ESU, however, reeled off eight unanswered points and finished the game on a 14-2 run.

Tyree Smith and Carl Wallace each scored 16 points, and Smith was a key early as he scored 12 first-half points on 4-of-4 shooting. But paced by Jamal Nwaniemeka's 21 points, the Warriors possessed too much offense for the Marauders. Millersville has now lost six consecutive games in Kohler Fieldhouse, and ESU has won 16 in a row at home. The win also gave ESU the privilege of hosting the PSAC semifinals and championship round on March 8-9.

East Stroudsburg scored 93 and 96 points in each of the first two meetings this season, and while the Marauders' defensive effort held the Warriors to 42 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent shooting from three, the offense made just 39.2 percent of its shots and connected on 5-of-19 3-pointers—nearly five makes below its average.

Each time Millersville crept close, ESU answered with a run. The Marauders trailed 29-27 with 2:30 left in the first half following a Nate Bollinger 3-pointer. But ESU's Will Brown countered with a three of his own and Muhamadou Kaba scored for two on the next possession. Marauder coach Fred Thompson was then hit with a pair of technical fouls and ejected from the game, and Matt Tobin sank three of four foul shots to complete an 8-0 run.

Millersville entered the half trailing 38-32 pulled as close as 47-42 on a Brandon Brown layup with with 15:35 left in the game. Grant and Tobin retaliated with a 3-pointer and two foul shots to push the lead back to 10, and that was as close as Millersville would get the rest of the game.

Millersville has reached the PSAC Tournament quarterfinals in each of the last two seasons. The season, marked by the absence of several key players for extended periods, comes to a close with a 13-14 record. Millersville loses three seniors in Nate Bollinger, Brandon Brown and Anthony Coleman. Bollinger averaged 5.8 points per game and totaled 15 starts. Brown averaged 9.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game with 14 starts. Coleman, who was expected to contend for postseason honors as a senior, was significantly slowed by injuries. He missed the first four games of the season and the final nine.

Expected to return in 2014-15 are Kelvin and Tavon Parker, who averaged 18.1 and 13.4 points per game respectively but played only three games together this season. Tyree Smith (10.7) and Carl Wallace (9.8) will also be seniors next season, as will Jalen Lester (8.4) and leading rebounder and shot blocker Xavier Mumford.