Millersville, Pa. - Freshman
Jaden Faulkner scored a career-high 23 points, and his classmate
Justin Nwosu hit a career high with 22, sparking Millersville to a 90-67 home win over Mansfield Saturday afternoon.
It was bounce back performances for both Millersville rookies after combining for nine points in Wednesday's loss to Shippensburg. Faulkner sank 9-of-14 shots, handed out a team-high five assists and recorded three steals while Nwosu hit 10-of-14 to top 20 points for the first time in his collegiate career. The win snapped Millersville's two-game skid and boosted its record to 8-7 overall and 4-4 in PSAC play.
Caden Najdawi added his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. With Najdawi and Nwosu scoring around the bucket, and Faulkner scoring on aggressive dribble drives, the Marauders dominated the interior, outscoring Mansfield 48-22 in the paint while also matching a season high with 13 offensive rebounds. Putting the ball in the hands of the post players was an emphasis against Mansfield.
"(Mansfield) is smaller, so we knew we could give the ball to Caden and Justin a lot," said Millersville head coach
Casey Stitzel. "I didn't think (Najdawi and Nwosu) played well the last two games, but they were two of the biggest reasons why we played so well today. When they play well we're a different basketball team."
Millersville, which ranks No. 2 in the PSAC in turnovers created and steals, was itself against Mansfield, forcing 23 turnovers, totaling 13 steals and scoring 35 points off of those turnovers. The Marauders' turnover creation helped them turn a 40-31 halftime lead into a 21-point advantage in the first three minutes of the second half. The 12-0 run saw the Marauders force four turnovers in five Mansfield possessions. Millersville hit five of its first six shots of the half, including two 3-pointers from
Marcus Adkison.
"During that run in the beginning of the second half I thought we got that pep back into our step on defense," said Stitzel. "That led to us getting some easier shots that we may have missed in the first half."
After the lead shrunk back to 12 two minutes later, Millersville deployed a full court press that helped it build the lead up to as many as 26 (68-42). Millersville led by no fewer than 16 points over the final 14 minutes.
"I've been trying to figure out when to press; I am a press guy," said Stitzel. "But we're so good at defending the half court so I don't want to give teams open shots and open layups. We're trying to find a good mix of the two, but that switch got us going. We've been in a funk but hopefully getting some easy baskets and easy layups will get us on track before a tough week next week."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• In addition to Faulkner, Nwosu and Najdawi, Adkison hit double figures, scoring 14 points on an off-shooting night. He made 5-of-17 shots including 4-of-13 shooting from three.
•
Jamal Washington moved up to eighth in the PSAC in steals per game after totaling five on Saturday. He was one shy of his season high. Adkison totaled two steals, giving him at least one in each of the last 13 games.
• Nwosu was plus-26 in 31:08 of playing time.
NOTES
• Millersville has won nine of the last 10 and seven consecutive home games against Mansfield.
• Of Millersville's eight wins, seven have come by 20 or more points. Only one of its seven losses have been by more than nine. Millersville has won its eight games by an average of 23.5 points per game. Its seven losses have come by an average of 7.9.
• Millersville has totaled 10 or more steals nine times and forced 20 or more turnovers six times.
QUOTABLE
• "We're an aggressive team. I saw that we're second in the conference in steals even though we're not pressing as much. We have guys that have active hands, but it comes down to mentality. We have to play aggressive and the right way and when we do that we can create a lot of turnovers. When we do that we get into transition and we are a very good transition team. We struggled scoring in the half court the last two games so it was really big for us on offense to get out on transition " -
Casey Stitzel
UP NEXT
• Millersville hits the road for its next two games, traveling to Bloomsburg on Jan. 16 and Kutztown on Jan. 19.
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