Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
C.W. Post (0-0) at Millersville (1-0)
Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009 - 4 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville, Pa.

Millersville at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 - 8 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville, Pa.

COVERAGE
Audio: MSBN
Live Stats (C.W. Post at Millersville)

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

ABOUT THE GAMES
• The Millersville men's basketball team enters the second week of the 2009-10 season with hopes of building upon its 74-62 season opening win over Penn State Abington. The Marauders host a new-look C.W. Post team on Saturday at 4 p.m., and then travels to the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia on Monday for an 8 p.m. tip.
• While the Marauders are attempting to bounce back from last year's 10-17 record, the team is 5-4 in its last nine games dating back to last season. The final two losses of the season were by just nine total points. Eight players and three starters return from last year's team, including four of the top six scorers.
• Millersville struggled defensively a year ago, allowing nearly 73 points per game while scoring just 67 points per game. The Marauders reversed that trend in the season opener, scoring 74 and holding Penn State Abington to 62 points and forcing the opponent to commit 21 turnovers.
• Both contests will be broadcast live on the Marauders Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN). Fans can access the broadcast on www.millersvilleathletics.com. Live stats for the C.W. Post contest can be accessed at www.millersvilleathletics.com.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• C.W. Post is coming off an impressive season by any standard. The Pioneers rolled to 30-straight victories, a conference title and an NCAA Elite Eight berth before falling to eventual national champion Findlay 79-69. The Pioneers are 56-6 in the last two seasons and have posted three-straight seasons of at least 19 victories.
• C.W. Post was picked as the preseason favorite for the ECC crown, but the team lost all five starters from last year's squad and will count on veterans Roberto Macklin, James Tchana and Gilbert Montalvo to continue the team's recent run of success. Those three players are the only players on the roster with starting experience, and they combined for four starts and 13.7 points per game last year. Coach Tim Cluess brought in a recruiting class of seven transfers and two freshmen to fill the void.
• Coach David Pauley and the University of the Sciences are rebuilding a team that limped through a 7-20 season a year ago. Last year marked the first time since 1981 that the program had failed to qualify for postseason play. Pauley brought in a recruiting class of nine players to play alongside of returning leading scorer Adewale Adefemi. Adefemi averaged 13 points and 7.2 rebounds per game last year. The team's only other returning starter is Curtis Fitch, who led the team in blocked shots and field goal percentage.

THE SERIES
• Saturday is just the third all-time meeting between Millersville and C.W. Post. The Pioneers have won both previous meetings. The first game between the programs was in the 1985 NCAA East Regional. The Pioneers came away with a 57-55 victory. Last year, the programs met for the first time in the regular season, and C.W. Post rolled to a 105-65 victory at home, giving Millersville its worst loss of the Fred Thompson Era.
• Palmer McDurfee led the Marauders with 18 points in last year's meeting, but C.W. Post hit 49 percent of its shots from the field and drilled 14 3-pointers. C.W. Post returnee James Tchana earned his only start of the season against the Marauders and contributed four points. Fellow returnee Roberto Macklin posted 13 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.
• Millersville holds a perfect 4-0 record against the University of the Sciences and three of the four wins have come by double figures. The programs first met in 2004-05 with Millersville winning 72-65. Monday's game will mark the third year in a row that the programs have played.
• Millersville improved to 3-1 on the 2008-09 season with a 71-58 victory over the Devils last year. Millersville limited the Devils to 38.7 percent shooting. Millersville shot 45.1 percent from the field and received scoring from 11 different players. Makal Stibbins delivered a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• Senior Jason Blake scored 18 points and sophomore Mike Seibert chipped in 16 off the bench as the Millersville men's basketball team started its 2009-10 season with a 74-62 win over Penn State Abington Sunday afternoon in Pucillo Gymnasium.
• Blake and Seibert not only led the team in scoring, but they turned in all-around performances. Blake recorded game-highs in rebounds with eight, assists with six and steals with five. Seibert also tallied five boards and two steals.
• Behind Travis Troiano's 19 points, Penn State Abington stayed close despite trailing by as many as 18 in the first half and 13 at the half. Bryan Brown opened the second half with a 3-pointer, jump-starting a 10-3 run for the Lions that slashed Millersville advantage to 43-49 at the 14:49 mark. But as soon as the lead dwindled to three, the Marauders scored four-unanswered on buckets from Rob Coney and Cullen Murray-Kemp. Troiano and Naseer Khalid whittled Millersville's lead back down to 10 with 1:05 left on the clock, but Blake and Seibert iced the game away, hitting 4-of-4 free throws in the final minute.
• Blake hit three of his final four free throws after missing three of his first four. He drilled 7-of-9 field goals. Seibert went 5-for-8 from the field and led all players with 4-of-6 3-pointers. Brandon Widener also chipped in 11 points and two steals in 20 minutes.
• As a team, the Marauders shot 14-of-25 in the second half and 28-of-56 for the game. The Marauders also limited Penn State Abington to 2-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.

DO-IT-ALL BLAKE
• Jason Blake opened his senior season with an impressive performance, leading his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. His 18 points, eight boards, six assists and five steals were all game-highs, and he matched career highs in rebounds and steals.
• In his 28 games as a Marauder, Blake has displayed an ability to fill up the stat sheet. He has scored in double figures10 times including a career-high of 21 at East Stroudsburg on Feb. 4, 2009. He has also recorded two or more steals 11 times, four or more rebounds 16 times and three or more assists 14 times.
• His performance against Penn State Abington marked the first time one Marauder has led the team in points, rebounds and assists in a game since Charlie Parker totaled 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Cheyney on Feb. 27, 2008. Greg Testa also performed the feat with 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists against Mount Olive in the 2007 NCAA East Regional. Blake's effort was just the third of its kind since the 2004-05 season. Toochi Udeinya turned in two such performances in 2003-04.
• Blake and Parker are the only two players during that span of time to lead their team in points, rebounds assists and steals.
• Dating back to last year, the Marauders are 7-3 when Blake scores in double figures.

SUPPORT STAFF
• Millersville received some outstanding production from its bench in the season opener. Led by Mike Seibert's 16 points, four players totaled 27 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Dating back to last season, only Trai Hawkins' 18 points against Mansfield and Seibert's 17 against W.Va. State were better performances by a player coming off the bench.

PICK POCKETS
• Millersville totaled 11 steals in the season opener against Penn State Abington, marking just the fourth time since the start of the 2008-09 season—a span of 28 games--that the Marauders totaled double figure steals in a game. Millersville is 2-2 in those games. Five different players recorded at least one steal against Penn State Abington, and along with Jason Blake's five, Mike Seibert and Brandon Widener tallied two apiece.
• Widener's two steals matched a career high and marked the sixth time in his career that he has recorded two in a game. Seibert recorded two steals just one other time in his young career.

KEEPING UP THE PACE
• Brandon Widener scored 11 points in the season opener, marking the 10th time he has totaled double figures in his career. He failed to score double figures in the first 10 games of his Millersville career, but he has totaled more than 10 points in 10 of his last 15 games. During that stretch, he has scored 170 points for an average of 11.3 points per game.
• Widener's field goal percentage in the last 15 games is .441, and he has also hit nearly 42 percent of his 3-point attempts.

DEFENSE IS THE KEY
• Millersville held Penn State Abington to just 62 points in the season opener and held five opponents to fewer than 62 points last year. The team was a perfect 6-0 in those games. Millersville has won 21 straight games when holding an opponent to 62 or fewer and has not lost a game in which it allowed fewer than 62 since a 53-51 loss at Clarion on Dec. 20, 2005.

MARAUDER MILESTONES
• Millersville's men's basketball program began in 1899 and since then, it has compiled 1,304 wins. Millersville is 11th among all Division II teams in all-time victories and 30th by winning percentage at .618.
• Only two coaches in Millersville men's basketball history have reached the 200-win plateau, and Fred Thompson is only seven 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.

ADVANTAGE PUCILLO
• Since Fred Thompson took over the program in 1998-99, the Marauders are incredible 115-40 at home in Pucillo Gymnasium. The Marauders have posted a 33-11 home mark dating back to the 2006-07 season. Maybe even more impressive is the 46-21 PSAC East record during that stretch.

PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS
• Millersville was picked seventh in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) 2009-10 Eastern Division Preseason Poll, released Thursday, Oct. 29.
• The Marauders posted a final mark of 4-10, 10-17 PSAC East in 2008-09 and finished sixth in the division.
• Kutztown was chosen as the preseason favorite to win the Eastern Division as it looks for its third straight PSAC East title. Last year, the Golden Bears finished with a record of 13-1 in the conference and 28-5 overall.
• Ranked behind Kutztown was West Chester, which closed out 2008-09 in third place and finished 18-10 overall and 9-5 in the division. Mansfield was picked third, followed by Cheyney and Shippensburg. East Stroudsburg, Millersville and Bloomsburg round out the sixth, seventh and eighth slots.
• Defending PSAC West champion Indiana (Pa.) was picked to repeat as well.