Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
Millersville (5-2) at Wheeling Jesuit (4-2)
Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2009 - 5 p.m.
Alma Grace McDonough Center, Wheeling, W.Va.

Millersville vs. West Liberty (6-1)
Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009 - 4 p.m.
Alma Grace McDonough Center, Wheeling, W.Va.

COVERAGE
Audio: MSBN
Live Stats
Live Video
Tournament Web Site

ABOUT THE GAMES
• The Millersville Marauders travel outside the state of Pennsylvania for the first time this season and to West Virginia for the third time in as many seasons on Dec. 29-30 to play in the Main Street Classic hosted by Wheeling Jesuit. Along with the Marauders and the hosts, West Liberty and California (Pa.) will participate in the two-day event that features four Atlantic Region match-ups. Millersville takes on Wheeling Jesuit Tuesday at the Alma Grace McDonough Center and then faces West Liberty the following afternoon.
• Since 2002-03, the Marauders have played nine games in the state of West Virginia, winning five and dropping four. Last year, the Marauders fell at W.Va. State 86-70. Along with that defeat, the Marauders have lost three of four in the state.
• So far this season, Millersville has been sparked by the play of its trio of guards--Jason Blake, Brandon Widener and Palmer McDurfee. All three players are averaging in double figures and are ranked first to third on the team in assists. It has been the team's defense, though, that has led the way to its 5-2 record. The Marauders are allowing 65.0 points per game, ranking seventh in the PSAC.
• Millersville coach Fred Thompson is zeroing in on a major career milestone. With two victories, Thompson will become the third coach in Millersville men's basketball history reach the 200-win plateau. Thompson (198-123) will join John Kochan (285-96) and Richard DeHart (321-298) in the ranks of 200-game winners. Thompson will 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.
• Millersville's men's basketball program began in 1899 and since then, it has compiled 1,308 wins. Millersville is 11th among all Division II teams in all-time victories and 30th by winning percentage at .619.
• Both games will be broadcast live on the Marauders Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN). Fans can access the broadcast on www.millersvilleathletics.com. Live stats for the contest can be accessed at www.millersvilleathletics.com.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• Wheeling Jesuit entered 2009-10 looking to bounce back from consecutive losing seasons. So far, the Cardinals are 4-2 with three wins coming by three points or less. The team's only two losses, however, have come against West Liberty and Indiana (Pa.), both of which have spent time in the nation's top 25 this season. Of the team's first six games, only one has come at home—a 91-88 overtime win against Pitt-Johnstown.
• Despite the 14-16 record last year, the program, under third-year head coach Danny Sancomb, is on the upswing. He led the Cardinals to the WVIAC Tournament Semifinals in 2009 and lost just two seniors off that team.
• The Cardinals are an extremely young team with eight freshmen and four sophomores on the roster. One of those freshmen is Andre Harris who leads the team in scoring at 16.7 points per game. Harris is a do-it-all player, averaging 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game and leads the team in steals. He is also shooting 49.3 percent from the field at nearly 42 percent from 3-point range.
• Four Cardinals average in double figures, and the team is shooting an impressive 45.4 percent from the field.
• Under the direction of Jim Crutchfield, West Liberty has become one of the most consistent winners in the region. The program has posted five-straight 20-win seasons and three-straight NCAA scoring titles. Crutchfield is an impressive 113-36 as head coach of the Hilltoppers. Last year, the Hilltoppers averaged 98.8 points per game and they have picked up right where they left off, averaging 107.9 points per game through the first seven games of 2009-10. West Liberty opened the season with six wins, including a 145-point outburst against Pitt-Titusville.
• West Liberty, which plays California (Pa.) Tuesday, is looking to respond from its first loss of the season. It fell by a 117-116 score at W.Va. State on Dec. 12. The Hilltoppers have scored at least 100 points in four of the first six games and no fewer than 86. Six players are averaging double figures, and the guard combo of Corey Pelle and Mike Mathey combine for an average of 38.4 points and nearly 12 assists per game.

THE SERIES
• Millersville holds a 2-1 edge in the series against Wheeling Jesuit but the programs have not met since 1992. Wheeling Jesuit won the first meeting in 1972 by a 71-63 score, but the Marauders won 81-76 in 1991 and 105-88 in 1992.
• The meeting between Millersville and West Liberty will be just the second all-time. The only other meeting came in 1990, and Millersville took that meeting 97-82.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• The Millersville defense did its part, holding visiting Goldey-Beacom to just 66 points. But the shots just wouldn't fall for the Marauders as they hit 17-of-60 attempts in a 66-52 loss Monday evening at Pucillo Gymnasium.
• Millersville (5-2) trailed by five at the break, shot 18.8 percent and missed its first 15 3-pointers of the second half before Palmer McDurfee sank a deep three with time expiring. That was far too little too late for a team that managed to connect on just 3-of-21 from long range in the game.
• Only three players managed to hit more than one field goal, and Jason Blake and Nigel Davis combined for 11 of the team's 17 made shots. Blake went 5-for-10 from the field and 8-for-10 from the line to finish with 18 points and four steals. Davis contributed his first career double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 13 rebounds--nine of which were offensive.

DOUBLE UP
• Guards Palmer McDurfee, Jason Blake, Brandon Widener and Nigel Davis have each scored in double figures four times this year. The Marauders are 4-0 when McDurfee scores 10 or more and 3-1 when Blake or Widener score in double figures. McDurfee leads all active players with 15 double-figure performances and Blake is second with 14.
• When Blake and McDurfee score, the team generally wins. The Marauders are 10-5 when McDurfee scores in double figures and 9-4 when Blake hits that mark.
• Blake opened the season with three straight games in double figures, becoming just the third player on the roster to have score double figures in three straight games. McDurfee accomplished the feat in the first three games of the 2008-09 season, and Widener put together strings of three straight games twice last season and once this season.
• In the last three seasons, only three players—Blake, McDurfee (2008-09) and Reggie Bates (2007-08)—have opened the season with double figures in each of the first three games.

CASHING IN
• Millersville struggled from the free throw line a year ago, ranking 13th in the PSAC at 60.7 percent. So far this year, the Marauders have hit 69.2 percent of its free throws. Against C.W. Post, the Marauders sank 27-of-34 free throws, marking the team's best percentage when shooting more than 30 free throws since sinking 28-of-33 against East Stroudsburg on Feb. 21, 2004.
• Palmer McDurfee and Jason Blake combined to hit 17-of-17 free throws against C.W. Post. Since 2003, no Millersville teammates have been perfect on as many attempts.
• The Marauders also sank 10-of-12 against Philadelphia and 23-of-30 at Lock Haven.
• After hitting just 5-of-8 in the season opener, Brandon Widener has sunk 16 of his last 19 free throws and has been perfect from the line in four games.
• McDurfee has made 30-of-35 this season and is tied for second in the PSAC at 85.7 percent. One game after making 8-of-8, McDurfee made 7-of-9 at University of the Sciences and hit a career-high 12-of-14 against Lock Haven on Dec. 7.
• Most impressively, the Marauders have knocked down 24-of-29 (82.8 percent) free throws in the final minute of games.

EXTRA SESSIONS
• Millersville earned an overtime victory over C.W. Post in the second game of the season, improving Millersville to 16-12 under Fred Thompson in overtime games. Millersville has won at least one overtime game in 10 of his 12 seasons at the helm. The team played no overtime games in 2002-03 and the 2005-06 squad, which finished 10-17, was 0-3 in overtime.
• Millersville has won its last two overtime games dating back to last season.

NO RAIN
• Millersville's opponents are shooting 45.4 percent from the field this season, placing the Marauders 15th in the 16-team PSAC in field goal percentage defense. But success shooting behind the 3-point line has been hard to come by for Millersville's opponents as the Marauders ranks second in the PSAC in 3-point field goal defense. Teams have made only 22-of-90 attempts (24.4 percent) against the Marauders this season.

SENIOR SHINES
• Alen Ahmetovic entered his senior season with 71 games played and 141 points scored—an average of 1.6 per game. But through seven games of the 2009-10 campaign, “Boz” is producing a career season. He is averaging a career high in points (5.7) and rebounds (5.0). Despite ranking sixth on the team in minutes played, he is second in rebounding average.
• Ahmetovic has grabbed at least four rebounds in each of the last six games and has scored eight or more in three of the last four. He has also pulled down at least one offensive rebound in each game.
• Against Virginia State, Ahmetovic converted a 3-point play in the final minute that proved to be the game-winning basket. He totaled 11 points in the game, giving him double figures for the first time in 77 games as a Marauder.
• Ahmetovic also recorded a career-high three assists at Lock Haven on Dec. 7.

TWICE AS NICE
• With 14 points and 13 rebounds on Dec. 14 against Goldey-Beacom, Nigel Davis recorded the first double-double of his young Millersville career and also the first by any Marauder this season. It was Millersville's first double-double effort since Makal Stibbins went for 19 points and 16 rebounds against Kutztown on Feb. 14, 2009.
• Davis and Brandon Widener are the only two players on the roster to have recorded a double-double. Widener notched his lone double-double on Jan. 21, 2009 against Shippensburg with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

A NOSE FOR THE BALL
• Sophomore Nigel Davis has displayed a knack for offensive rebounding. Of 38 total rebounds, 23 have come on the offensive end. He is averaging 3.3 offensive rebounds per game and has grabbed at least one in each game. He has totaled three more on four occasions. Against C.W. Post, five of his eight rebounds were offensive, and against Goldey-Beacom, he totaled nine. That was the most offensive rebounds by a Millersville player since Sherman Moye totaled 10 against Bloomsburg in 2006.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• On the strength of two double-digit scoring efforts including a 32-point performance, Millersville sophomore Brandon Widener earned PSAC Eastern Division Player of the Week honors on Feb. 14.
• Widener led the Marauders to a 2-0 record on the week by averaging 21.5 points per game and shooting a blistering 68.2 percent from the field. He also hit 70 percent of his shots from behind the arc.
• In a win over Lock Haven, Widener scored a career-high 32 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. He also handed out three assists. Widener followed that outing with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting in a 63-59 win over Virginia State.
• Widener was the first Marauder since the 2007-08 season to earn the conference's weekly honor.

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 34 games as a Marauder, Blake has displayed an ability to fill up the stat sheet. He has scored in double figures 13 times including a career-high of 21 at East Stroudsburg on Feb. 4, 2009. He has also recorded two or more steals 13 times, four or more rebounds 18 times and three or more assists 15 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.

SUPPORT STAFF
• Millersville has received some outstanding production from its bench this season. Against the University of the Sciences, the bench scored 33 points—more than half of the team's total—and pulled down 16 of the team's 38 rebounds.
• The bench also outscored the starters against Virginia State, totaling 39 of 63 points and two bench players—Palmer McDurfee and Alen Ahmetovic—combined for 21 points.
• In the opener against Penn State Abington, the bench produced 27 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Mike Seibert's 16 points led all bench players. 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.
• Millersville has had one player come off the bench and score double figures in five of the team's seven games.
• Millersville's bench is averaging 24.3 points, 13.1 rebounds and 79.9 minutes per game.

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. 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 has two steals twice this season, matching a career high and for the seventh time in his career. Seibert recorded two steals just one other time in his young career.
• Palmer McDurfee tallied a season-high four steals against C.W. Post on Nov. 21. Blake followed his five steals in the opener with four steals against Goldey Beacom.

DEFENSE IS THE KEY
• Millersville held Penn State Abington to just 62 points in the season opener, University of the Sciences to just 50 points and Virginia State to 59. The Marauders held five opponents to fewer than 62 points last year. The team was a perfect 5-0 in those games. Millersville has won 24 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.

ADVANTAGE PUCILLO
• Since Fred Thompson took over the program in 1998-99, the Marauders are incredible 117-42 at home in Pucillo Gymnasium. The Marauders have posted a 35-13 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.