Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
Millersville (7-10, 2-2 PSAC East) vs. Cheyney (8-8, 2-2 PSAC East)
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 - 8 p.m.
Cope Hall, Cheyney, Pa.

COVERAGE
Audio: MSBN
 
ABOUT THE GAME
• Millersville travels to Cheyney Wednesday to renew what has become one of the PSAC's most heated rivalries. The contest has plenty of significance as both squads are 2-2 in the PSAC Eastern Division and are vying for one of the four playoff spots.
• The Marauders are coming off a 61-57 overtime victory over Bloomsburg at home that ended a two-game slide. The Marauders were led by senior Jason Blake, who matched a career-high with 21 points. He knocked down a career-best 11-of-14 free throws including two in overtime that broke a tie and lifted the Marauders to victory. Blake has been on a roll lately, scoring in double-figures in six-straight games. During that span, he has averaged 16.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.2 assists per game. He is also shooting 50.8 percent from the field and is the only Marauder shooting over 40.0 percent during the six-game stretch.
• Even with the PSAC's 15th-ranked offense, the Marauders are finding ways to win with a defense that allows 68.1 points per game and ranks eighth in the league. Despite ranking eighth in scoring defense, Millersville is 16th in field goal percentage defense. The Marauders also rank 16th in field goal percentage and assist/turnover ratio. As a team, the Marauders are averaging just 8.9 assists per game which ranks last in the PSAC.
• With Saturday's win, Fred Thompson became just the third coach and the second fastest in Millersville history to earn 200 wins. Of the 16 coaches in the PSAC, Thompson ranks fifth in career wins and is one of only four to have won 200 games at his current school.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• Like Millersville, Cheyney started quickly but endured a skid over the holiday season. The Wolves are 3-7 in their last 10 games but have won three of the last five. In PSAC East action, the Wolves and Marauders both have victories over Bloomsburg and West Chester. Cheyney has lost at Mansfield and at home to East Stroudsburg Saturday, 77-73.
• Offensively, the Wolves rank ninth in the PSAC, scoring 75.0 points per game, but they are surrendering 72.9 points per game. The team's strength is its 3-point shooting, which is tops in the league at 37.8 percent (102-of-270).
• Sharif Bray is Cheyney's leader. He is one of only three players in the PSAC averaging more than 20 points per game (21.3). He has led the team in scoring in 14 of 16 games and has eight 20-point performances and two 30-point efforts to his credit. Bray has taken 49 more attempts than anyone else on the team but is shooting just 40.8 percent and has committed an average of 3.5 turnovers per game.

THE SERIES
• Cheyney holds a slight 60-46 edge in the all-time series, but Fred Thompson is 15-9 in his 12 seasons against the Wolves. The series dates back to 1958, and Millersville won the first five meetings. Cheyney has won three of the last four, but the squads split two games last year, winning on each other's home courts. Cheyney won at Pucillo Gymnasium 77-60, but the Marauders captured a 61-59 thriller at Cope Hall on a Palmer McDurfee jumper with three seconds left. Since 2002, 12 of the 18 games played have been decided by fewer than 10 points. Three games reached overtime.