Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
Millersville (5-6) at Slippery Rock (8-3)
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009 - 3 p.m.
Morrow Field House, Slippery Rock, Pa.

Millersville at No. 21 Mercyhurst (11-0)
Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009 - 3 p.m.
Mercyhurst Athletic Center, Erie, Pa.

COVERAGE
Audio: MSBN

ABOUT THE GAMES
•    PSAC crossover action continues this week for Millersville.  The Marauders are 5-6 after topping California (Pa.) at home last Sunday 71-65 to snap a three-game skid. Millersville head coach Fred Thompson owns a 41-19 record all-time against the PSAC West, but putting together a string of wins will not be easy this weekend as the two opponents—Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst—have a combined 19-3 record this year. The Marauders will also be on the road for both games and are 1-4 away from Pucillo Gymnasium so far this season.
•    While outscoring opponents 450-407 in six games at home, the Marauders have been outscored 403-326 in their five road games. Three of the four losses have come by double figures. Millersville has shot 46.1 percent at home and 40.5 on the road. In Pucillo Gymnasium, opponents converted a mere 39.9 percent of field goals, but Millersville allowed teams to shoot 49.6 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from 3-point range on the road. The Marauders are also being outrebounded 37.0-29.4 on the road. Reggie Bates is averaging two fewer points per game on the road, and Makal Stibbins is averaging 3.8 fewer points and 2.1 fewer rebounds on the road.
•    After struggling to score during a three-game stretch, the Marauders put up 71 points and shot 51.1 percent from the field against California, seemingly putting the offense back on track. The Marauders, however, have not won back-to-back games since starting the season 2-0 and have yet to win three-straight this season.
•    Both of Millersville's opponents are experiencing rejuvenation this season. The Rock, under new head coach Kevin Reynolds is off to an 8-3 start and has already bested last season's win total of seven. •    With an 11-0 start, Mercyhurst is off to its best start in school history and jumped into the national rankings this week at No. 21. The Lakers are in their first year as members of the PSAC.
•    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 available via www.millersvilleathletics.com.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
•    Slippery Rock boasts the top scoring offense in the PSAC with an average of 91.3 points per game. Slippery Rock returns four starters from last year but Reynolds infused some talent with eight newcomers including seven transfers. Four players are currently averaging double figures, and Denell Stephens leads the way with 19.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Michael Evans Jr. averages 17.0 per outing, and Maron Brown is totaling 12.3 points and 9.3 boards per game. Kyle Camper makes the offense run, and he leads the PSAC with 131 assists (11.9 per game). As a team, The Rock is shooting 50.4 percent from the field.
•    After a 7-0 start, The Rock has hit a bit of a slide, losing three of four. All three losses came against teams from the PSAC East and two were on the road.
•    Mercyhurst has made an immediate splash after moving from the GLIAC to the PSAC this year. The team moved into the national rankings for the first time this year and is No. 21.  Coach Gary Manchel's team returned just one starter from last year in Brian McTear, but his recruiting class of seven newcomers has meshed well. The Lakers are averaging 76.3 points per game but their trademark is defense. The team enters the week ranked third in the PSAC in scoring defense at 60.6 points per game and fourth in field goal percentage defense at 39.8 percent. The Lakers have a potent offense as well. They have hit 86 3-pointers and are second in the PSAC in 3-point field goal percentage.
•    Four Lakers rank in the top 28 in the PSAC in scoring. McTear is averaging 16.5 points per game and leads the team with 56 assists. Nnamdi Nnadili (13.4), Jordan Armstrong (13.2), Elliot Engelmann (13.1) and Jeremiah Wise (11.8) also average in double figures.

THE SERIES
•    Saturday's meeting is the 23rd all-time between Millersville and Slippery Rock. The Marauders hold a commanding 18-4 record in the series and have won 15 in a row dating back to 1982-83. Fred Thompson is 8-0 against The Rock during his Millersville tenure.  Last season, the Marauders needed two overtimes to dispatch Slippery Rock, 81-77. Reggie Bates scored a career-high 36 points on 12-of-24 shooting in the win.
•    Millersville and Mercyhurst meet for just the second time on Sunday. Millersville won the only other meeting by a 93-84 score in 1994-95.

THE LAST TIME OUT
•    Senior Reggie Bates scored a season-high 29 points, and sophomore Rob Coney tallied a career-high 12 points to lead the Millersville men's basketball team to a 71-65 victory over California (Pa.) Sunday afternoon in Pucillo Gymnasium.
•    The win snapped Millersville's (5-6) three-game skid and also avenged last season's loss to Cal (4-5) in the NCAA Division II East Region championship game.
•    Bates, who scored 25 in Saturday's loss to Indiana (Pa.), gave the Marauders a much-needed offensive lift Sunday. The team had shot just 40.6 percent from the field during its losing streak, but behind Bates' 9-of-15 shooting, the Marauders pumped in 24-of-47 attempts for 51.1 percent. Bates also sank 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 8-of-11 from the stripe.
•    The Marauders started quickly, and after jumping in front 10-8 at the 15:40 mark on a Bates 3-pointer, they led the rest of the way. Bates scored 16 in the first half but his usual running mate, Makal Stibbins  was limited to just six minutes after picking up three early fouls. Coney stepped up in Stibbins' absence. In his second career start, he tossed in 4-of-5 shots for 10 first half points.
•    Thanks to Bates and Coney, the Marauders built a 37-29 advantage at the half. But unlike Saturday, when Millersville let a 10-point halftime lead slip away, they continued to build the advantage. After a quick Cal bucket, Millersville scored six unanswered to boost the lead to 43-31.
•    Cal, however, stayed close and crawled within 51-50 with just over six minutes left. Bates, though, followed a missed jumper with a tip-in and drained a three on the following possession. Stibbins then scored four-straight to put the Marauders up by seven. Millersville kept Cal in its rear view by hitting 9-of-11 free throws in the final two minutes.

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

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.

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 165-69 mark (.705) during that span and is 63-38 (.624) in 11 seasons under Fred Thompson.

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 16th in the PSAC in scoring (15.3 points per game), he enters the week leading the PSAC in field goal percentage. He has converted 70-of-103 chances (.680). Stibbins has attempted more field goals than all but two players ranked in the top 15 and has converted more than 14 of the 15 players ranked.
•    Stibbins has shot under 50 percent from the field in just one game this year and has shot better than 70 percent from the field seven times.
•    If Stibbins maintains his shooting percentage throughout the season, he will shatter 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 seventh in defensive rebounds per game (5.6) and eighth in offensive rebounds per game (3.1).
•    Stibbins has led the team in rebounding in eight of the last nine games, and has tallied double figure boards seven times. He has grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds four 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 six so far in 2008-09. He has matched a career-high with 11 rebounds four 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 13 double-doubles in the last 16 games including seven in the first eight games of this season.

BLOCK PARTY
•    Millersville has blocked at least two shots in 10 of 11 games this season and has had a player block three or more eight times.
•    As a team, Millersville is ranked ninth in the 16-team PSAC with 3.5 blocks per game.
•    Makal Stibbins has been the team leader in blocks in nine games and his 22 blocks are 15 more than any other player on the team. He enters the week ranked fourth in the PSAC with 2.0 blocked shots per game and is just 0.4 blocks per game behind the leader.
•    Stibbins has totaled at least one block in 10  of 11 games and has blocked two or more five 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 1,298 wins, leaving it just two victories 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 16.1 points per game and 1,210 total points places him 26th all-time and just one point behind Mike Kometa '64 for 25th. He passed Lyman Reifsnyder '42 and Joe Labatch '56 in the first game of the season and has jumped eight 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 12 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 scored a season-high 29 points on Jan. 4 against California and has not been held under 10 points in the last 13 games he has played dating back to last season. The senior guard is averaging 19.3 points per game over that span. The last time Bates failed to record double digits in scoring was on March 7, 2008, against Edinboro, when he scored eight.
•    Bates currently ranks seventh in the PSAC in scoring average (18.4).
•    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 10 games this season and has converted at least five field goals in nine straight. He has also led the team in scoring six times.
•    Bates scored 12.8 points per game as a sophomore in 2006-07, but 2007-08 was truly his breakthrough season. Bates led the team in scoring with 19.2 points per game and produced the sixth-best single season point total in school history with 615. Bates scored in double figures in all but five games and scored at least six points in every game. He also produced 15 20-point games—two of which came in the NCAA East Regional—and four 30-point outings. Bates was responsible for four of the team's five 30-point games during the year. His 36 point performance against Slippery Rock on Dec. 2 was the top scoring performance of the season for Millersville and the second-best performance in the PSAC.

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.