Millersville, Pa. - This was the kind of game that a young, developing team needs to win if it wants to take the next step. Millersville did just that Saturday, shaking off shooting woes and creating buckets by generating turnovers for a 76-72 win over visiting Lincoln.

Millersville won its third consecutive game for its first 3-1 start since 2009-10 and its first three-game winning streak since November of 2016-17. It was Lincoln's third consecutive game against a PSAC East team. The Lions entered with a win over Lock Haven and a 10-point road loss to Shippensburg on its resume. Millersville led for all but 3:20 of the game, and Caden Najdawi's lay-up with 7:44 left in the first half gave the Marauders a lead it would never relinquish. Still, it was a fight to stay in front as the Marauders shot a season-low 41.8 percent from the field and made just 8 of 29 3-pointers. Millersville shot 5 of 12 from the line in the first half and was also out-rebounded 52-32. Millersville found a way, though.

"Results are a little overrated so early in the season, but I do know that [Lincoln is] a talented basketball team," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "I thought they made some really tough shots down the stretch. Any win against a Division II team in the CIAA is a good win for this young basketball team."

Millersville shot just 11 for 30 and 2 of 14 from three in the first 20 minutes, but a 10-0 run early in the second half was the difference. With 17:17 to play, Marcus Adkison put back a miss, and a trapping, Millersville defense forced Lincoln into two turnovers and three missed shots in the next two minutes. Najdawi hit a 3-pointer to give Millersville its largest lead of the game at 44-31. Millersville led by at least six points until a Lincoln 3-pointer at the buzzer made the final margin four points.

"I thought we played well in the first half besides three things," said Stitzel. "We missed too many foul shots, we didn't do a good job boxing out. This was probably the biggest team we played all year so we have to do a better job of that. And I thought we missed open shots. But the good thing is that we've been getting the right shots; they just didn't go in. Then in the second half those same shots that didn't go in went in. We did a really good job sharing the ball. Defensively, I thought we did a good job covering our guys."

Lincoln did its best to ugly the game in the final two minutes, pressing full court and fouling to send the Marauders to the free throw line. Millersville canned 7 of 8 in the last 47 seconds to maintain the advantage. Millersville did not commit a turnover in the final 10 minutes.

"Not many teams have pressed us this year," said Stitzel. "We do it at practice but that's not the same as in game, especially for a young team. We did a really nice job not turning over the ball, calling timeouts and went 4 for 4 from the foul line. Hopefully this experience will help us when we're in this situation again."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Four Marauders scored in double figures with Adkison's 16 leading the way. Adkison, who shot 7 of 11 from the field, has scored in double-figures in all four games. Adkison also added four assists and a game-high four steals. He has nine steals in the last two games.
• Najdawi made 7 of 11 shots for 15 points and also added a team-high six rebounds. Jamal Washington scored in double-figures for the third consecutive game, hitting 4 of 7 including 2 of 2 from three for 13 points.
• Washington and freshman Justin Nwosu led the team with a plus-20 plus/minus ratio. The Marauders' starting lineup played 12:13 together and outscored Lincoln 24-9 with seven steals in that time.
• Millersville entered the game ranked first in the PSAC in 3-point field goal defense and held Lincoln to 28.6 percent from three. None of Millersville's four opponents have made more than six threes.
• Millersville forced 23 turnovers and turned those into 20 points.

NOTES
• Adkison surpassed the career 1,000-point mark last season, but he scored his 1,000th point in a Millersville uniform with his second basket of Saturday's game. He has scored 1,012 points in just 59 games as a Marauder and has 1,164 points total including his freshman season at Shepherd. 
• Millersville improved to 20-4 all-time against Lincoln and has won three in a row against the Lions at home.

QUOTABLE
• "[Adkison] is making everyone better this year. That play he made to Caden down the stretch where he dished it off was great. He's a super talented basketball player who is starting to put it together with the other aspects of the game, and it's really exciting to watch. We'll milk him when we have some big games down the stretch. I'm proud of him. He's doing a great job leading and is really maturing this year. If he continues to do that then it'll be a very good thing for our basketball team." - Casey Stitzel

UP NEXT
• Millersville's next two non-conference games are on the road. It travels to Jefferson, where Stitzel served as an assistant coach in 2007-08, on Nov. 20. The Marauders travel to Wilmington on Nov. 27.
 

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