Millersville, Pa. - James Sullivan scored a season-high 20 points and
Jamal Washington recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds as Millersville won its fifth consecutive home game, cruising to an 84-57 PSAC East win over Bloomsburg.
The win boosted Millersville's record to 15-10 (10-7 PSAC), ensuring the team of its first winning record since 2014-15. Millersville also maintained its two-game lead over Kutztown for the No. 4 seed from the PSAC East, meaning that a win over Kutztown Wednesday at home will give Millersville its first home playoff game since 2015.
Millersville limited Bloomsburg to fewer than 30 points in each half, 39.4 percent shooting from the field and just 4-of-17 (.235) shooting from three. Millersville held the visitors to just nine points over the final 13 minutes.
"We challenged [our team] to player harder in the second half," said Millersville head coach
Casey Stitzel. "We just had to communicate more, play well together and play harder. Had we done that for 35 or 40 minutes we would have played a lot better, but this is a young team that's still learning. Any game you can win and learn from is a good game."
The Marauders, meanwhile, canned 12-of-27 3-pointers including eight in the second half. Sullivan had the hot-hand for the third game in a row, hitting 6-of-9 from three for his first 20-point game of the season. He's scored at least 13 in each of the last three games and has made 15 of his last 22 threes.
"He is everything," said Stitzel. "He's so good at defending the ball; he's a team defender. He also had six assists today. He does the little things well. Marcus has been struggling so James' shooting has been huge for us. He was terrific today. His threes got us going, and he played really good defense down the stretch too."
Millersville led by only eight points (51-43) with 14:27 left in the game and Bloomsburg, while getting no closer than nine points, was trailing 66-54 with under seven minutes to play. But with 6:15 on the clock, Sullivan hit another three and the rout was on. Millersville closed the game on an 18-3 run, hitting 4-of-5 threes in the span while holding Bloomsburg to 1-of-6 shooting with four turnovers in the same time frame.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Washington's 10 boards were four more than his previous season high and three more than his previous career best. He scored double figures for the fourth consecutive game--the longest such stretch of his two-year career. Washington also added three assists and a game-high three steals.
• Freshman
Jaden Faulkner made 8-of-14 shots for 18 points and also added seven assists, two steals and two blocks.
• Freshman
Justin Nwosu made 5-of-9 shots for 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. He has scored 10 or more in six of the last seven games.
• In addition to his 20 points, Sullivan added six assists, two steals and two blocks. Millersville matched a season high with seven blocks.
• Millersville attempted a season-low six foul shots but made all six.
NOTES
• Millersville earned its first season series sweep of Bloomsburg since 2007-08. Millersville is 16-2 at home against Bloomsburg since 2001.
• Millersville has made double-digit 3-pointers in back-to-back games for the first time this season. The 12 makes were the most since hitting 14 against California (Pa.) on Dec. 1.
QUOTABLE
"[Playing three of the final four games at home] is huge. Any coach will tell you that they'd rather play at home regardless of how young the team is. We want to get a good home atmosphere here. Kutztown is going to come for our throats on Wednesday. Playing in a gym that you;re comfortable in can only help you." -
Casey Stitzel
UP NEXT
• Millersville topped Kutztown 94-92 on a Faulkner game winner on Jan. 21. Millersville looks for its first sweep of Kutztown since 2013 on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.
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