Complete Game Notes

GAME INFORMATION
Millersville (2-0) vs. Mercyhurst (1-0)
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011 - 3 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville, Pa.

Millersville vs. Slippery Rock
Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011 - 3 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville, Pa.

MEDIA INFORMATION
All-Access Live Video
Audio Broadcast (MSBN)
Live Stats

TICKET INFORMATION
www.muticketsonline.com
Reserved Seating: $8
General Admission (Doubleheader): $6
General Admission (Single game): $5
Senior Citizen: $3
Visiting Students with ID: $3
Children under 6: FREE
MU Students: FREE with valid ID
Faculty and Staff: FREE with one guest with valid ID

SERIES INFORMATION
Millersville vs. Mercyhurst: 1-2
Series Streak: Mercyhurst, 2
First Meeting: 1995 (Ville 93, MC 84)
Last Meeting: 2010 (MC 73, Ville 72)

Millersville vs. Slippery Rock: 19-5
Series Streak: Slippery Rock, 1
First Meeting: 1971 (SRU 53, Ville 48)
Last Meeting: 2010 (SRU 73, Ville 61)

THE STARTING FIVE
(1) Millersville used a potent offense to defeat Central Penn in the season opener. The Marauders then turned to a suffocating defense to defeat Lincoln and improve to 2-0 Wednesday evening. Millersville held Lincoln to 25 percent shooting from the field and 0-8 from three in the second half to erase a 10-point halftime deficit. Anthony Coleman led the team with a career-high 13 points. It was the first time in his career that he led the team in scoring, but he, along with Jaymes Miller, has scored in all 27 games of their Millersville careers.
(2) Millersville needed seven tries to earn its first road victory last season, but needed just one this season. The Marauders now return to Pucillo Gymnasium where they are 131-54 under Fred Thompson. Over the last six-plus seasons, Millersville is 47-27 at Pucillo Gymnasium but 28-51 on the road. Millersville has won no fewer than six home games in any of Thompson's previous 13 seasons, and only twice have the Marauders posted sub-.500 records at home (6-8 in 2009-10 and 6-7 in 2010-11). From 2008-2011, Millersville was 7-31 on the road, including 1-11 last year.
(3) With 213 wins at Millersville, Thompson has had his share of success against PSAC opponents, and that is going to be key with all PSAC games--regardless of the opponent's division--counting against the standings this season. Thompson is 45-27 all-time against teams from the PSAC West and has a losing record against only IUP (3-9), Gannon (0-1) and Mercyhurst (0-2). He is 9-1 against Slippery Rock with his lone loss coming on Jan. 9, 2010 by a 73-61 score. The only current team members to play in that game are Rob Wyley, Mike Seibert and Jim Kelleher. Seibert scored 12 points in the game.
(4) Millersville and Mercyhurst have met just three times, and the last two meetings have both ended in heartbreak for the Marauders. On Jan. 11, 2009, Millersville led by two with 39 seconds to go, but two turnovers and a last-second layup by Mercyhurst forced overtime. The Lakers went on to win 70-66. In Pucillo Gymnasium the following season, Millersville lost another overtime game, 73-72.  Millersville took a one point lead with 28 seconds left on a free throw from Jason Blake. Mercyhurst missed a game-tying free throw with 11 seconds left and Rob Wyley grabbed the rebound. Heiden Ratner, however, stole it away, was fouled and hit both foul shots with seven seconds left.
(5) Millersville ranked fourth in the PSAC last year in blocks and despite not having Bernard Brown's 2.1 per game, the team is contesting shots at a higher rate. Millersville blocked seven shots in each of its first two games. Jaymes Miller swatted a career-high four against Lincoln, and Elijah Obade has five on the season.

THE OPPONENTS
· Gary Manchel has led Mercyhurst to six consecutive seasons of at least 15 wins and two straight PSAC Tournament appearances. All-PSAC East First Team performer Luis Leao averaged 17.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for the 20-7 club, but he was lost late in the season to a knee injury and also sat out the team's 74-58 opening game win over Urbana. Jamal Turner averaged a league-high 5.7 assists per game last year. He totaled 149 assists and committed just 57 turnovers. He took just two shots against Urbana but totaled 10 assists to four turnovers. Andrew Rickard came off the bench against Urbana and scored 19 points in 22 minutes, hitting 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
· Slippery Rock went 21-11 and reached the PSAC Championship game and NCAA Tournament in 2010-11. The Rock opened with a 102-48 win over Division III Westminster and play at West Chester Friday. Senior Devin Taylor is off to a strong start, scoring 25 in an exhibition with Penn State and 22 against Westminster. Last season, he was the No. 3 scorer with 11.8 points per game, but his shot attempts have increased with the loss of All-PSAC West performers Maron Brown and Jabril Bailey. Against Westminster, The Rock shot 59.4 percent from the field, committed only nine turnovers and totaled 22 assists. Starters John Bayardelle and Jon Valeriano are also back from last year's team. Neither scored more than 5.1 points per game. Bayardelle scored 13 on 5-of-7 shooting in the opener. A pair of newcomers to the team are Will and Wes Kirkland, both of whom played at Shippensburg last year. The Kirklands averaged 7.5 and 3.2 points per game respectively.