Millersville, Pa. - With under six minutes remaining, Millersville trailed Lock Haven by eight. With their postseason seed solidified and having played a double-overtime game just two days earlier, it would have been easy for the Marauders to pack it in. But instead, the Marauders rallied with an 11-0 run. However, Lock Haven's Christian Kelly hit a 3-pointer to force overtime, and in the extra session, the fresher home team got a Jesse McPherson put back with 35 seconds left, lifting Lock Haven to an eventual 73-70 win.
Millersville's second overtime game in three days saw it shoot 40 percent from the field and just 3-of-15 from 3-point range. Two of those threes came from
James Sullivan in Millersville's late second half rally. It was evident that tired legs impacted the Marauders as
Justin Nwosu, who played just three minutes on Thursday against Kutztown, 9-of-13 shots for a team-high 20 points. The rest of the team shot a combined 21-of-57 (.368). From the 15:40 mark of the second half to the just over five minutes left, the Marauders missed 14 consecutive field goals including four threes. Lock Haven went on a 16-3 run in that span to build a 60-52 lead.
"[Fatigue] might have a played little bit of a role but I think it was more of a mindset," said Millersville head coach
Casey Stitzel. "It's really tough for a young team to have a game like that on Thursday at home, do a walk-through the next day and then play a game on the road where there are no seeding implications. That's where we have to grow. Failure is part of the process. We have to find a way to win these games even with all those things going against us. That's our next step. This group will earn from it."
The Marauders dug deep to get the game close late, and for the second game in a row, made a charge behind a full-court press.
"We needed to manufacture some points after going through that slump shooting-wise," said Stitzel. "It got us back in the game again. That's something we can go to maybe a little more down the stretch."
Sullivan hit a 3-pointer with 5:23 left, and the press resulted in a turnover and another Sullivan three. With 2:30 left,
Jamal Washington got a steal and layup to give Millersville a 61-60 lead. Millersville got a stop and
Caden Najdawi scored for a 63-60 advantage. Then, with 41 seconds left, Kelly ended Lock Haven's six-minute scoring drought with a deep 3-pointer. Millersville called timeout, and got Najdawi for a left block, right-hand hook shot with 13 seconds left, but it came up short. Millersville forced Lock Haven into nothing more than a 3-point heave at the other end.
"We got a good look," said Stitzel. "Caden with a five-foot hook, that's a good look."
In the overtime,
Jaden Faulkner's steal and uncontested lay-up gave Millersville a 70-69 advantage with 57 seconds to play. At the other end, the Marauders forced a miss from Lock Haven leading scoring Matt Cerutti, but McPherson grabbed the back-side rebound and scored for a lead. With Millersville down one, the ball found Sullivan on the left wing with a good look at three. The shot missed, Lock Haven grabbed the rebound and Kelly hit two foul shots with eight seconds left. Millersville had one more chance and called timeout to draw up a play.
Marcus Adkison caught dribbled off a screen but was met by a host of Lock Haven defenders. With timing running out, his only option was to force a well-defended shot.
"On the Sullivan shot, we went to one of our sets that we usually run," said Stitzel. "I thought it was a tough shot. The shot clock was running down. They played off Jaden and made it tough for him to get to the basket. On the last play, Lock Haven did a great job. When you need a three, they can switch every screen, and Marcus, not being a taller guard, was bothered by their length."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• After playing all 50 minutes against Kutztown Thursday, Faulkner logged 44 or 45 minutes Saturday. He produced a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds. He also added three blocks, three assists and three steals.
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Jamal Washington scored 10 points for his fifth consecutive game in double figures.
NOTES
• Millersville led 36-33 at the half and prior to the game was 13-0 when leading at the half.
• The last time Millersville played back-to-back overtime games was February of 2002. That season, the Marauders beat East Stroudsburg at home in double overtime then lost at Cheyney in overtime on the road.
QUOTABLE
"We have to get to the point in our program where there are no trap games. That was my message after the game that we need to find a way to gut it out and win. We had some opportunities, more than we should have. We just didn't make that last play." -
Casey Stitzel
UP NEXT
• Millersville is off for a full week. They close out the regular season at home against East Stroudsburg on Saturday, March 2.
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