Box Score

Millersville, Pa. - In Wednesday's PSAC Eastern Division opener at Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville trailed West Chester for the first 39 minutes. But with 21 seconds left, Jason Blake sank two free throws to give Millersville its first lead after trailing by as many as 19. The shots helped the Marauders to a 66-63 victory and put an end to its seven-game losing streak.

The Marauders (6-8, 1-0 PSAC East) trailed by 19 with 3:03 left in the first half and found themselves down 35-20 at the half. But they roared back with 46 points in the second half on 16-of-28 shooting from the field and 11-of-13 from the free throw stripe.

No free throws were bigger than the 4-for-4 that Millersville hit in the final 21 seconds. Blake's came after a steal and drive to the hoop. His two put the Marauders up 64-63. West Chester had one more chance, but All-PSAC East honoree Kenneth St. George committed an uncharacteristic double dribble with eight seconds left, and an immediate Golden Ram foul sent Mike Seibert to the stripe, who drilled both attempts to put Millersville up three. St. George's desperation 3-pointer on West Chester's final possession came up short.

Pulling out the late victory helped the Marauders exorcise the demons that lingered from the last-second heartbreaker against Mercyhurst three days before and put the trying seven-game skid in the past.

Millersville's 46 second-half points were the highest 20-minute total of the season and came following an eight-game stretch in which the team scored more than 66 just once. It was also scored against a defense that allowed just 66.0 points per game entering the evening.

Nigel Davis paced the Marauders with 16 points including 12 in the second half. Palmer McDurfee scored eight of his 11 in the second. Blake chipped in 11 points and recorded five steals. Jim Kelleher also scored 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from long range.

Kelleher's accurate shooting helped spark the Millersville comeback. He came off the bench and hit back-to-back 3-pointers near the 16-minute mark of the second half. Millersville, however, didn't start making a dent in West Chester's lead until the 12:51mark when a Davis lay-up started a 10-2 Marauder run that included three points from Blake and five from Brandon Widener. The cut the deficit to 52-46 with more than nine minutes left.

The Marauders continued to scratch their way back, closing the game to 57-56 on a jumper from McDurfee at 5:40. West Chester built the lead back to five with 3:26 to go, but the Marauders refused to go away. Twice more they pulled within one point until Blake's free throws put them in front for good.

The Marauders finished the game shooting 46.9 percent from the field, marking its best shooting outing since Dec. 7. Millersville dealt West Chester (11-3, 0-1 PSAC East) just its third loss of season, and prior to Wednesday's game, the Golden Rams were 6-0 in games decided by fewer than 10 points.

Millersville faces another tough test when it hosts No. 3 Kutztown Saturday at Pucillo Gymnasium. Game time is 3 p.m.