ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
• With just five games left in the regular season, Millersville travels to Shippensburg looking to gain ground in the PSAC East standings. The six playoff teams from the PSAC East are set, but the Marauders, currently in the No. 4 seed, trail Shippensburg by just two games and hold a two-game lead over fifth-place Lock Haven. Four of the five teams left on Millersville's schedule are playoff teams. Three of the final five are at home where Millersville is 8-3.
• First, however, the Marauders must travel to Shippensburg where they have lost five of the last six. The common thread in those losses is Millersville's defense. Shippensburg has scored at least 87 points in each of the last four games in Heiges Fieldhouse 96, 94 and 94 in the last three.
• Millersville is a much-improved defensive team, however. Last year, the Marauders ranked last in the PSAC in field goal percentage defense. This year, Millersville ranks fifth in scoring (68.8), sixth in field goal percentage defense (.417) and seventh against the three (.336). The Marauders also rank fifth in blocked shots per game (3.48) with
Caden Najdawi leading the way, ranked fifth at 1.2 per game. Millersville is also second in steals (10.17) with four players ranked in the top 16 in steals per game.
Jaden Faulkner and
Marcus Adkison are tied for sixth at 2.1 per game.
• Millersville held Cheyney to 50 points on Saturday and four of the last six opponents have failed to score even 60 points against the Marauders. Millersville is now 10-0 when holding teams to fewer than 70 points. On the offensive end, the Marauders are 8-1 when scoring more than 80.
• Since the Jan. 9 match-up against Shippensburg, Millersville is 7-2, losing only on the road against West Chester and East Stroudsburg--the top two teams in the PSAC East standings. Millersville's six conference losses have come against teams with a combined 59-19 PSAC record, and all have come to teams with winning records.
• Featuring the second-youngest starting lineup in the PSAC, Millersville has seen freshman
Justin Nwosu lead the team in scoring in each of the last two games. The two-time PSAC East Freshman of the Week has scored in double-figures 13 times and is one of two players on the team to start all 23 games. Nwosu has scored at least 14 in four of the last five and in that five-game stretch, he is averaging a team-best 14.6 points per game while shooting .583 from the field.
SERIES AT A GLANCE
Series vs. Ship: 119-69
Series Streak: Ship, 2
First Meeting: 1904 (L, 9-10)
Last Meeting: 2019 (L, 66-75)
Last 10 Meetings: 6-4
Casey Stitzel vs. Ship: 2-4
Chris Fite vs. Millersville: 7-5
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
• Shippensburg has played three of its last four on the road and has slipped to third in the PSAC East after dropping games at West Chester and most recently East Stroudsburg. Shippensburg has scored 87 or more points in five of its last seven games. The Raiders rank 12th in the PSAC in field goal percentage, but make up for it by attempting more 3-pointers (615) than any other team in the league and making the second-most. Shippensburg also does damage on the glass, averaging 41.7 rebounds per game, which is second in the PSAC. Its 15.3 offensive rebounds per game also ranks second.
THE LAST MEETING (Jan. 9, 2019 - Shippensburg 75, Ville 66)
• Millersville trailed by no more than eight points over the first 16 minutes of the second half and was within one score of the Raiders 11 times, but it never tied the game and led for a grand total of 17 seconds. Shippensburg pulled away late for a 75-66 win. An early barrage of 3-pointers from the Raiders coupled with Millersville's sluggish start put the Marauders down 21-7 6:38 into the game. Najdawi led Millersville with 15 points and five rebounds and blocked three shots for the third time this season.
