Shippensburg, Pa. - The defending PSAC champion Shippensburg Raiders began their title defense with a 94-67 win over visiting Millersville in Monday's opening round game. 

Fast starts to both halves were key for the Raiders (22-5), who built a 20-point first-half lead before the Marauders (10-19) chipped it to 51-42 behind a 15 first-half points from freshman James Sullivan. Sullivan, however, could not maintain his hot shooting, and Shippensburg pulled away, outscoring Millersville 43-25 over the final 20 minutes, hitting six threes while Millersville went 0 of 6 from deep. 

Dustin Sleva's 24 points and 13 rebounds led the Raiders, and he was seconded by Justin McArthur's 19 points and six assists. McCarthur canned 4 of 7 from three, and he and Sleva combined to make 15 of 15 free throw attempts. Shippensburg got to the line 25 times while Millersville shot eight. 

Sullivan finished with 19 points after hitting each of his first five 3-pointer attempts. He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Fellow freshman Caden Najdawi added 10 points and five boards. Seniors Jordan Greene and Conrad Chambers both scored 12. Millersville's leading scorer Marcus Adkison, who ranked sixth in the PSAC with 2.6 threes made per game, did not attempt a three and finished with seven points.

Shippensburg raced to a 28-8 lead in the first nine minutes, but Sullivan hit three triples in the next five minutes, helping Millersville slash the deficit to as few as eight. Millersville stayed within a 10-point margin until Sleva started a 13-4 run with 14 minutes remaining. McCarthur hit two threes and Antonio Kellem hit another as the Raiders pushed the advantage to 23 in a little more than three minutes. Millersville managed to scored just six points over the close eight minutes. 

While Shippensburg advances to face West Chester in the PSAC Quarterfinals, Millersville's season comes to a close. It was the second season under the direction of Casey Stitzel. Despite having just three upperclassmen on the roster and leading the conference in starts and minutes played by freshmen, Millersville returned to the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 2014-15. The Marauders also knocked off nationally-ranked Shippensburg at home for the second consecutive season. 

Adkison finished the season with an .867 free throw percentage, breaking Millersville's single-season record. Adkison's 75 3-pointers made ranks ninth all-time, and his 63 steals tied for the seventh-most in a season. His 534 points scored were the most by a Marauder since 2008.