Box Score

Millersville, Pa. - When Millersville and Cheyney tangle, it's almost always a wild game. Wednesday evening's PSAC Eastern Division clash in Pucillo Gymnasium lived up to the rivalry. Millersville shot a season-best 50.8 percent from the field and held off a furious Cheyney charge for a much-needed 73-70 victory.

The win put Millersville (6-8, 1-2 PSAC East) and Cheyney (11-4, 1-2 PSAC East) dead even in the division, and it was key for the young Marauder club, which suffered two disheartening, second-half collapses in the first two games of divisional play. In its eight losses, Millersville had been outscored by 41 total points in the second half alone. On Wednesday, Millersville built a large enough lead early that it could just hang on for the win.

The Marauders torched the nets on 16-of-27 shooting in the first half and hit 4-of-5 from long range. That helped them out to a 39-26 halftime lead. With the PSAC's second-leading scorer, Sharif Bray, struggling for Cheyney, the Marauders extended the advantage to 17 points with 8:47 to go.

Millersville, however, would go cold at the worst possible time, and it looked as if the second half struggles would doom the team again. Anthony Coleman hit a jumper with 8:21 to go, giving the Marauders a 66-50 edge, but the team missed eight of its next 10 shots, and Cheyney ripped off a 16-4 run in a little over six minutes. Bruce Kennedy's 3-pointer with 2:09 left, drew Cheyney to 70-66.

Marauder senior Bernard Brown had an answer, though. Brown, playing his first game against Cheyney in more than two years, battled foul trouble all evening, but took a lob pass from Mike Holley and scored for two with 1:06 left. Bray took the inbounds pass and raced ahead for an easy lay-in. After a Millersville turnover, Bray scored on another fastbreak layup to cut the Marauders' lead to 72-70 with 24 ticks on the clock.

Millersville sharpshooter Mike Seibert, who finished with nine and had been lights out shooting all game, missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving Cheyney one last opportunity. Bray found Kennedy on the right win, but Kennedy's three bounced off the back iron and after a mad scramble for the long rebound, Holley came up with loose ball and was fouled with 1.2 seconds left. Holley hit the second of his two shots, and Brown tipped away the ensuing inbounds pass to seal the victory for the Marauders.

It was Millersville's first win over Cheyney since 2009 and its first home win over the rivals since 2007. Of the last 11 meetings, Millersville now holds a slight 6-5 edge. Millersville improves to 14-11 since 2000 and 19 of those 25 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points.

Despite being limited to 23 minutes of playing time, Brown was outstanding. He connected on 6-of-7 shots for 13 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked a shot. Demond Vance, who has now scored double figures in eight-straight games, totaled 18 on 7-of-14 shooting and knocked down 2-of-4 from three. Jaymes Miller, making the first start of his career, finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

David Buron led Cheyney with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Bray entered the game averaging 21.2 per game, but the Marauders pestered him into 6-of-17 shooting for 12 points and five turnovers.