EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. - The Gannon men's basketball team turned the ball over 26 times and shot below 35 percent for the second consecutive game as the Golden Knights fell 75-54 at East Stroudsburg Sunday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover game.

Gannon fell behind the eight ball immediately after the opening tip. Mike DeMarco nailed a three-pointer on East Stroudsburg's first possession and the Warriors scored the first seven points.

James Bryant's (Spring Valley, N.Y./St. Patrick's) lay-up three minutes into the contest gave Gannon its first points of the afternoon. The Golden Knights cut the deficit to 9-4, before East Stroudsburg responded with another 7-0 run to assume a 16-4 advantage at the 14:55 mark.

Gannon then staged a George Johnson (Arlington, Va./Wakefield) rally, cutting the ESU lead to 16-14 with a 10-0 blitz. The first nine points came on three consecutive Johnson three-pointers. A Danard Crouch (Syracuse, N.Y./Anthony Henninger) free throw brought the Golden Knights within 16-14.

East Stroudsburg led 21-19 when its defense kicked in. The Warriors held the Golden Knights to four free throws in the final 9:22 of the first half. In all, Gannon missed its final 11 field goals and went 4-of-9 from the free throw line during that time span. Meanwhile, the Warriors ended the half on a 12-4 run and went to the intermission with a 33-22 lead.

Gannon was never able to stage a sizeable run in the second half. East Stroudsburg put the game away with a 17-2 run in the early stages of the final stanza, extending its lead to 52-30 with 12:41 to play. The lead then fluctuated between 13 and 23 points the rest of the way.

Johnson led the Gannon offensive attack with 22 points, reaching the 20-point plateau for the fourth time in the last six games. Crouch posted a career-high 14 points off the bench, hitting three triples. Travis Brannen (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira Free Academy) chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.

Gannon shot 34.8 percent (16-46) from the field, 33.3 percent (6-18) from three-point range and 61.5 percent (16-26) from the free throw line.

Four of East Stroudsburg's five starters reached double digits in scoring. Andy Heimbach led the way with 17 points. Robby Pines had 14 points, seven assists and three steals. DeMarco and Terrance King chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.

East Stroudsburg shot 41 percent (25-61) from the floor, 28 percent (7-25) from behind the arc and 75 percent (18-24) from the charity stripe.

Gannon dropped to 4-6 with a pair of road losses this weekend. East Stroudsburg remained undefeated at 11-0. The Golden Knights return to action Saturday, January 9 against Bloomsburg at the Hammermill Center. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m.

For a complete box score from Sunday's Gannon-East Stroudsburg men's basketball game, please click here.