Box Score

Millersville, Pa. - Led by Makal Stibbins' career-high 26 points, the Millersville men's basketball team caught fire on offense, erased an early deficit and ran away with a 97-87 victory over West Virginia State Saturday afternoon at Pucillo Gymnasium.

The victory snapped Millersville's (4-3) two game skid and avenged last weekend's 86-70 loss at W.Va. State (4-2). In all, five Marauders scored in double figures, and the team received career games from several unlikely contributors.

Freshman Mike Seibert, who entered the game having scored just three points in five appearances, turned in a perfect shooting performance. He hit 5-of-5 shots from the floor including 4-of-4 from 3-point range and knocked down 3-of-3 from the charity stripe to finish with 17. Steven Ross played a career-high 24 minutes and posted highs with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal.

The Millersville bench accounted for 42 points while W.Va. State's managed just 19. Both Seibert and Ross helped jump-start a Marauders team that struggled out of the gate and appeared to be heading toward their third-straight defeat after the first seven minutes of the game.

Trailing 20-7 with just under 13 minutes remaining in the first half, coach Fred Thompson went to the bench, subbing in Seibert, and he quickly made his presence felt. Ross found Seibert at the top of the key and he buried his first 3-pointer of the game to cut the lead. On the next trip, he knocked down his second trey to cut the Yellow Jacket's lead to 21-13.

Those two buckets began a 16-3 Millersville run that also included five points from Jason Blake and seven points, two rebounds and a blocked shot from Stibbins.

Blake's fast break layup with 7:40 left gave the Marauders' their first lead at 24-23, and Stibbins--after missing a shot and grabbing his own rebound--went to the line and hit two free throws to stretch the lead to 26-23.

The Yellow Jackets, who hit 5-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half, would hardly go away. Ted Scott scored seven points over the final six minutes to bring the game even at 39-39 after one period.

The Millersville offense, however, proved too much in the second frame for the Yellow Jackets. The Marauders drilled 20-of-30 shots including 6-of-7 from 3-point range.

W.Va. State still held a 50-48 advantage after the first four minutes of the final period thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Wade Pidock. Another three from Scott at the 14:45 mark put the Marauders down 53-49.
But the inside tandem of Ross and Stibbins quickly answered. Ross scored to cut the lead to two and then found Stibbins for a layup to knot the game at 53. Seibert then put the Marauders in front for good on the next possession. Despite being fouled, he drilled a fall-away 3-pointer from the top of the key and then knocked down the free throw to convert the four-point play and put Millersville on top 57-53.

The Marauders continued to pull away with Stibbins leading the charge. The senior dunked three times in the next six minutes of action and his third, on a transition pass from Palmer McDurfee, put the finishing touches on a much-needed victory as it put the Marauders 14 points in front of the Yellow Jackets with just four minutes remaining.

Along with his career-point 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, Stibbins grabbed 11 rebounds to record his sixth double-double of the season and his fifth-straight game with at least 10 rebounds.

Reggie Bates chipped in 19 points and seven rebounds despite struggling from the free throw line and Blake added 15 points and four rebounds. McDurfee led the team in assists with seven and he also scored 10 points.

Millersville finished the game shooting 34-of-62 for 54.8 percent. W.Va. State shot 42.9 percent on 30-of-70 shooting.

The 97 points were the most by the Marauders since totaling 99 against Kutztown on March 4, 2008.

The Marauders now face a 10-day layoff and do not play another home game until the new year. Millersville travels to Virginia State on Wednesday, Dec. 17 for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.