Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
Millersville (6-9, 0-2) vs. Shippensburg (8-7, 0-2)
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009 - 8 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville, Pa.

Millersville at Bloomsburg (2-13, 0-2)
Saturday, Jan. 24, 2008 - 3 p.m.
Nelson Field House, Millersville, Pa.

COVERAGE
Audio: MSBN
Live Stats (vs. Shippensburg only) 

TICKETS
Adults: $6.00
Students: $3.00
Millersville Students: Free with I.D.

ABOUT THE GAMES
•    The Millersville men's basketball team looks to rebound from a pair of tough PSAC East losses this week with games against Shippensburg and Bloomsburg. All three teams enter the week in search of its first conference victory. The Marauders are also trying to snap a three-game slide. Under Fred Thompson, Millersville has lost more than three in a row just four times and hasn't done so since a five-game skid in 2005-06.
•    On Wednesday, the Marauders return home  ending a difficult four-game road stretch that saw the team go 1-3. The Marauders have played significantly better at home, posting a 4-2 record as opposed to its 2-7 mark on the road.  In Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville has shot 46.1 percent from the field and has scored 75 points per game. On the road, the team has shot 39.2 percent and has scored just 65.3 points per outing.
•    Fred Thompson is 88-57 all-time against the PSAC East. This year's 0-2 start to conference play is just the second of his 11-year tenure.
•    Both contests will be broadcast live on the Marauders Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN). Fans can access the broadcast on www.millersvilleathletics.com. Live stats will also be provided for Wednesday's game against Shippensburg.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
•    After a strong 5-0 start, Shippensburg has hit a rough patch and has lost six of its last seven. Shippensburg enters the week with an 8-7 overall record and an 0-2 mark in the PSAC East. The Red Raiders suffered an 88-84 overtime setback against East Stroudsburg their last time out.
•    Shippensburg is scoring 67.6 points per game but relies on its defense that holds opponents to 68.9 points per outing. Led by Derrick Graff, who ranks fourth in the PSAC in blocked shots, the Red Raiders are fourth as a team, blocking an average of 4.0 shots per game.
•    Along with being one of the league's top shot-blockers, Grabb ranks 10th in rebounding with 7.8 per game. He also leads the team with 12.9 points per game. Stephon Draper is averaging 12.8 points per game and leads the team in assists with 48. Draper, however, has been mistake prone, committing 71 turnovers through 15 games.
•    Shippensburg head coach Dave Springer is in his seventh season with the Red Raiders, but spent one season as the interim coach at Millersville. In 1996-97, following the departure of John Kochan, Springer led Millersville to an 11-15 mark.
•    Bloomsburg has struggled out of the gates this season, posting a 3-12 mark and a 0-2 PSAC East record. The Huskies are just 1-6 at home and enter the week on a five-game skid. The team's last victory came on Jan. 3 at Lock Haven.
•    Bloomsburg is hitting just over 41 percent of its shots which ranks 15th in the PSAC. It has also scored over 70 points in a game just six times this season. As a team, the Huskies are hitting 29.9 percent of their 3-point shots.
•    The Huskies are led by Ruben Britt's 14.6 points per game. Larry Webster is averaging 13.0 points to go with a team-leading 8.4 rebounds per outing. Trevon Johnson is the team leader in assists with 31. He is also scoring 12.2 points per game.

THE SERIES
•    Millersville and Shippensburg meet for the 166th time on Wednesday. The Red Raiders, however, have not competed in the PSAC East since 1986-87. Still, the two programs have met every season since the 1911-12 season. It is also the seventh meeting in the last four years. Millersville holds the all-time series lead at 108-57, both Shippensburg as won three of the last five and seven of the last 10 dating back to 2001-02. Last year, the Red Raiders earned a 79-73 victory behind 24 points from Derrick Graff and a double-double from Ryan Kraft. Reggie Bates led the Marauders with 21.
•    Saturday will be the 169th contest between Millersville and Bloomsburg. Millersville holds a slight 88-80 edge in the all-time series, but has dominated in recent years, winning 14 of the last 15. Bloomsburg's last win came in 2005-06. The Marauders have won the last five games. Last year, Millersville earned a 79-68 win at Bloomsburg and a 76-67 win at home.  

THE LAST TIME OUT
•    Despite a double-double effort from Makal Stibbins and a spirited second-half rally by the Millersville men's basketball team, the 23-point half-time deficit proved too much to overcome as Kutztown managed to hang on for an 88-65 PSAC Eastern Division victory and improve to 8-0 at Keystone Hall.
•    Kutztown (12-3, 1-1) came out of the gates red-hot, building a 17-3 lead in the first six minutes of the contest. Kutztown knocked down 20-of-34 shots in the first half and held Millersville's two leading scorers, Stibbins and Reggie Bates to just 10 combined points through 20 minutes. Millersville's (6-9, 0-2) was also undone by its 12 turnovers as Kutztown took a 50-27 advantage at the break.
•    Kutztown scored the first four points of the second half, but after a Millersville time out Brandon Widener jumped started a Millersville run with his play at the offensive and defensive ends. In the span of one minute, Widener scored four points and recorded a steal.
•    The run also helped Stibbins get rolling. He scored 11 of his team-high 16 in the second, and his lay-up at the 10:11 mark cut Kutztown's advantage to 16 points, the PSAC's most potent offense--averaging nearly 89 points per game--kept Millersville out of reach.
•    The Marauders shot a much-improved 15-of-37 in the second half, but finished 24-of-65 for the game. Palmer McDurfee turned in a bounce-back effort, though. After going scoreless in his last two outings, McDurfee drilled 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from behind the arc for 13 points. Jason Blake totaled 11 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and two steals to complete an all-around effort.
•    Bates was limited to seven points, marking the first time in 16 games that he has been held to fewer than 10. Stibbins' 11 rebounds gave him his seventh double-double of the season. He also blocked a game-high three shots.

THE MAGIC NUMBERS
•    Millersville is 5-0 when shooting at least 43.8 percent from the field. In the team's seven losses, it has shot under 40 percent six times and has converted fewer than 35 percent of its 3-point attempts eight times.  The Marauders are also 5-0 when scoring at least 71 points.

EMERGING ROOKIES
•    A pair of freshmen have provided some much-needed offensive production in recent weeks. Cullen Murray-Kemp has scored in at least nine points in each of the last three games.  He is averaging 11.3 points per game and shooting 44.4 percent from the field during that span. He has also cashed in 10-of-20 3-point attempts in the last three games. He has hit at least three 3-pointers in each of the last three games.
•    His 10-point effort against Slippery Rock was the first double-figure game of his career. His 14 against Mercyhurst was a career-high effort.
•    Prior to the last three games, he had hit just 15-of-45 shots (33.3 percent) and just 7-of-24 from 3-point range. His previous career high was seven points.
•    Classmate Brandon Widener led Millersville with 19 points in a career-high 28 minutes on Jan. 11 at Mercyhurst. In his last three outings, he is averaging 12.3 points per game and has scored in double-figures two times. At Mercyhurst, he hit 6-of-9 shots including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Entering the game, he had scored a total of 15 points, nine of which came from the free throw line. He had made just three field goals and no 3-pointers entering the game. It was just the second time this season that a player other than Makal Stibbins or Reggie Bates led the team in scoring.

WINNING RESOLUTION
•    Since the records started being tracked in 1983-84, the month of January has been Millersville's most successful. The Marauders have posted a 166-72 mark (.697) during that span and is 64-41 (.598) in 11 seasons under Fred Thompson. In 2009, however, the Marauders are 2-4.

INSIDE HELP
•    Sophomore center Rob Coney earned the second start of his career on Jan. 4 against California and responded with a career-high 12 points and eight rebounds. It was the first time he had scored in double figures. It was also the first time he had scored a point since Dec. 3—a stretch of four games. The eight rebounds came within three of his career high which he set in the season opener against Penn State Abington. He played 34 minutes against California, marking only the fourth time this year he has played more than 10 minutes and it was 15 more minutes than his previous career high.

MAKAL'S MARKSMANSHIP
•    Makal Stibbins is averaging career bests in points, rebounds, and blocks, but maybe what's most impressive is his shooting accuracy. Along with ranking 15th in the PSAC in scoring (14.8 points per game), he enters the week ranked third in the PSAC in field goal percentage. He has converted 92-of-144 chances (.639). Stibbins has attempted the most field goals among players ranked in the top five and has converted more shots than all but two players ranked in the top 15.
•    Stibbins has shot under 50 percent from the field in just two  games this year and has shot better than 70 percent from the field nine times.
•    If Stibbins keeps up the pace, he will have an opportunity to break John Fox's '87 single season school record of .642.

CLEANING THE GLASS
•    Makal Stibbins leads the Marauders and is tied for sixth in the PSAC in rebounding at 8.7 per game. He also ranks sixth in defensive rebounds per game (5.7) and seventh in offensive rebounds per game (3.0).
•    Stibbins has led the team in rebounding in 12 of the last 13 games and has tallied double figure boards nine times. He has grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds six times this season.  Only two other Millersville players—Reggie Bates and Rob Coney—have turned in a double digit rebound performance this year. Bates grabbed 10 and Coney pulled down 11 in the season opener.

SEEING DOUBLE
•    After playing 62 games without a double-double, Makal Stibbins has totaled seven so far in 2008-09. He has matched a career-high with 11 rebounds six times. He also set a career in points twice as well, totaling 17 against Penn State Abington and then pouring in 26 against W.Va. State on Dec. 6.
•    Stibbins recorded a double-double six times in the first eight games.
•    Both Stibbins and Reggie Bates recorded double-doubles in the season opening victory over Penn State Abington. Stibbins' 17 points and 10 boards were both career highs and gave him his first career double-double. Bates had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double.
•    Millersville saw double-double efforts 15 times in 2007-08 including six in the final five games of the season. Dating back to last season, Millersville has 14 double-doubles in the last 20 games including seven in the first eight games of this season.

BLOCK PARTY
•    Millersville has blocked at least two shots in 13 of 15 games this season and has had a player block three or more 10 times.
•    As a team, Millersville is ranked eighth in the 16-team PSAC with 3.5 blocks per game.
•    Makal Stibbins has been the team leader in blocks in 12 games and his 26 blocks are 19 more than any other player on the team. He enters the week ranked fifth in the PSAC with 2.0 blocked shots per game and is just 0.5 blocks per game behind the leader.
•    Stibbins has totaled at least one block in 13 of 15 games and has blocked two or more eight times.
•    Stibbins blocked a career high six shots in the season opener against Penn State Abington. His previous best was four, which he recorded on four different occasions. His six blocks were the most by a Marauder since George Bailey swatted seven against Southern Connecticut State on Nov. 20, 1999. As a team, the Marauders swatted seven shots. Millersville blocked seven shots twice and eight one time in 2007-08.

MARAUDER MILESTONES
•    Millersville's men's basketball program began in 1899 and since then, it has compiled 1,299 wins, leaving it just one victory shy of 1,300 all-time wins. Entering the 2008-09 season, Millersville is 11th among all Division II teams in all-time victories and 25th by winning percentage.
•    He has only played in a Millersville uniform for three seasons, but Reggie Bates has rapidly climbed up the all-time scoring list. His career average of 16.2 points per game and 1,262 total points places him 22nd all-time and just 37 points behind Rob Lawton '88 for 21st. He passed Lyman Reifsnyder '42 and Joe Labatch '56 in the first game of the season and has jumped 12 spots already this season. Bates' scored 615 points a year ago and with a repeat effort, he would finish with 1,641 points and 10th all-time just ahead of Lance Gelnett '92, who was inducted into the Millersville University Athletic Hall of Fame this year. Bates is also on pace to be the top-scoring three-year player in school history.
•    Only two coaches in Millersville men's basketball history have reached the 200-win plateau and Fred Thompson is only 11 wins shy of joining John Kochan (285-96) and Richard DeHart (321-298).  Thompson could be the second-fastest coach in school history to achieve the milestone. It took Kochan into his ninth season to win his 200th game. DeHart won his 200th game with his third victory in his 15th year.

SUPER SCORER
•    Reggie Bates produced one of the best single seasons in school history last year and is looking to become the third-straight Marauder to earn PSAC East Athlete of the Year honors if he can duplicate his junior season efforts.
•    Bates currently ranks eighth in the PSAC in scoring average (16.6).
•    Bates scored 25 points against IUP on Jan. 3 and 29 against Cal on Jan. 4 giving him three 20-point efforts this season and 19 for his career.
•    Bates has scored at least 11 points in each of his 13 of his 14 games this season.
 •    Bates has led the team in scoring six times this year.

ADVANTAGE PUCILLO
•    Since Fred Thompson took over the program in 1998-99, the Marauders are incredible 113-36 at home in Pucillo Gymnasium. The Marauders have posted a 30-6 home mark in the last three seasons (including 2008-09). The team has won no fewer than eight home games each season. The Marauders recorded eight of their 10 wins at home in 2005-06 and nine of their 12 wins came at home in 1999-00.  
•    Maybe even more impressive is the 44-16 PSAC East record during that stretch. Millersville is 9-1 against PSAC East teams in Pucillo in the last two seasons.