Men's Basketball | 11/10/2016 2:14:00 PM

MILLERSVILLE VS. GOLDEY-BEACOM/LOYOLA
	Millersville Marauders 2016-17 Record: 0-0 Coach: Casey Stitzel, 1st season Roster | Schedule | Statistics (2015-16)
	Goldey-Beacom Lightning 2016-17 Record: 0-0 (plays Delaware on Nov. 11) Head Coach: T.J. Dekmar, 1st season Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	Loyola Greyhounds 2016-17 Record: 0-0 (plays Duquesne on Nov. 12) Head Coach: G.G. Smith, 4th season Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	Game Information vs. Goldey-Beacom Date: Feb. 24, 2016 | Start Time: 7:30 p.m. Location: Millersville, Pa., Pucillo Gymnasium Live Stats | Live Video Series vs. G-B: 2-4 (.333) Series Streak: G-B, 1 First Meeting: 2009 (L, 52-66) Last Meeting: 2015 (L, 54-70) Last 10 Meetings: 2-4 Casey Stitzel vs. G-B: First meeting T.J. Dekmar vs. Millersville: First meeting vs. Loyola Date: Nov. 14 | Start Time: 7:30 p.m. Location: Baltimore, Md., Reitz Arena Live Stats | Live Video Series vs. Loyola: First meeting

Complete Game Notes (.PDF)

GAME OVERVIEW
• Sunday's season-opener against Goldey-Beacom is match-up of first year coaches, but Millersville's Casey Stitzel and G-B's T.J. Dekmar are plenty familiar with each other. Stitzel came to Millersville after a successful eight-year run at Delaware Valley College. Dekmar served as Stitzel's assistant and recruiting coordinator for three seasons of that run. Dekmar was the program's assistant coach in 2015-16 and now takes over for longtime G-B coach Chuck Hammond, who became the college's dean of students.
•    Millersville is coming off a 4-22 season, but Millersville's long tradition of success on the court includes 10 PSAC Championships since the introduction of an organized system in 1954. Millersville won at least one postseason game each year from 2013-2015, and has played in the NCAA Tournament as recent as 2008.  Stitzel is no stranger to turning around programs. As a first-time head coach at Delaware Valley, he posted a 13-13 record in season one--the program's first .500 record in more than a decade. He needed just three seasons to win a conference championship. Millersville's last PSAC Championship came in 2008.
•    Much of Millersville's scoring and rebounding production from 2015-16 departed and will now turn to a blend of returners and newcomers. The top returning scorer is Cornell Yarde II, who averaged 10.7 points per game last season despite missing significant time with an injury. Yarde is one of four seniors. Tommy Patterson is a three-year starter for the Marauders but is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season with a broken wrist. Markeith Mont provides strength in the post, starting seven games last season and averaging 6.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Scott Slade Jr. has the size (6-5, 210) to defend multiple positions.
•    Sophomore guard Jon Lott was named of the team's captains by Stitzel. Lott averaged  3.8 points per game as a freshman, starting 11 games and average 17.5 minutes per game. Lott is expected to be an integral member of the team's starting lineup. Joining Lott in the backcourt is sophomore Marcus Adkison, who transferred in from Shepherd. At Shepherd, Adkison averaged 5.6 points per game but opened the season scoring over 20 points twice in the first five games. He was the all-time leading scorer at St. Andrew's Episcopal (1,293 points) as a high school player. The Marauders should also receive help from transfers Amadou Kaba (East Stroudsburg), Conrad Chambers (Navarro College) and Jordan Greene (West Chester).
•    Millersville has lost four consecutive season-openers, and Sunday marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that the team has opened on the road. Stitzel went 4-4 in season openers at Delaware Valley.
•    The last time Millersville played a Division I team in an exhibition was on Nov. 1, 2007 at Duquesne. Millersville hall of famer Charlie Parker scored 24 in the 108-87 loss.

SCOUTING GOLDEY-BEACOM
• Goldey-Beacom was ranked sixth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) South Division preseason poll. The Lightning went 10-18 last season with a 70-54 win over Millersville. The top four scorers return from last season. The group is led by Shakeem Wilson, who started all 27 games, averaged 15 points per game and shot .427 from 3-point range. The 6-8, 310-pound Elijah Tillman presents a match-up problem and averaged 10 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.48 blocks per game in 2015-16.
• Millersville raced to a 15-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the game, but Goldey-Beacom rallied to force a 21-21 tie at the half. G-B scored the first 16 points of the second halfand pulled away. Shakeem Wilson scored 22 points for G-B. Millersville was led by Cornell Yarde II's 15 points.

SCOUTING LOYOLA
• Loyola scored a 73-50 exhibition win over Johns Hopkins and travel to Duqesne Friday for its first regular season contest. Andre Walker scored 22 points to lead all scorers in the exhibition. Walker was named All-Patriot League Second Team as a sophomore in 2015-16 and was named to the All-Rookie Team the season prior. He averaged 10.2 ppg as a freshman and 14.2 ppg last season.
• Loyola went 9-21 in 2015-16. Along with Walker, Jarred Jones is a senior guard, who ranked second on the team in scoring at 13.3 ppg in 2015-16. Loyola's head coach is G.G. Smith, who is the son of Memphis head coach Tubby Smith. G.G. was an assistant at Loyola from 2007-13 before becoming the head coach.