Millersville, Pa. - The Millersville men's basketball team lost on a last second shot for the second consecutive game, dropping Saturday's home PSAC matchup against Shepherd, 73-72.
Shepherd guard Thomas Lang knocked down a 3-point shot from the corner as the final buzzer expired. Lang led the Rams with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
The Marauders fall to 8-9 overall and 5-6 in PSAC action. Shepherd improved to 8-9 and 4-7 in conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Millersville held onto its lead throughout the first 38 minutes of play with Shepherd never coming within two points. The Marauders built up as much as an 15-point lead off a James Sullivan jumper and back-to-back layups from Justin Nwosu.
• With 15:25 remaining in the second half, the Rams cut the Marauders deficit to two points following a Lang 3-point shot. Millersville responded with a 13-2 run to reclaim an 11 point lead with just under nine minutes remaining in the contest.
• The Rams responded again, cutting Millersville's lead to one point following a Phillip Jordan 3-point shot at the 5:13 mark.
• Another 3-pointer from Shepherd's Jon Preston with 2:15 remaining in the contest tied the game, 68-68. Millersville's Khari Williams scored the next four points to give the Marauders a four-point advantage. Jordan converted again for the Rams on a tough layup, cutting Millersville's lead to 72-70.
• Following a missed one-and-one free throw attempt, Shepherd rushed down the floor with time expiring. Guard Jarrell Jones went up for a layup attempt but was held up by Millersville's Mekhi Hendricks. The Rams, holding the possession arrow, would receive one last shot attempt with 0.9 seconds remaining.
• Inbounding from the baseline, Jordan passed to Lang in the corner, who hit a tough fadeaway 3-point shot as time expired for the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville's Ryan Davis led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-7 from downtown. The redshirt freshman's 20 points was a career-high.
• Justin Nwosu added 17 points off 7-of-17 shooting marking the 11th double-digit scoring effort for the sophomore forward this season.
• Khari Williams put up 13 points while Mekhi Hendricks put up 10 for the night.
• The Marauder bench outscored the Rams 24-14. Millersville led the Rams in points in the paint (40-36), fast break points (6-2) and second chance points (10-8).
• James Sullivan was the lone double-digit rebounder for Millersville with a team-high 12 rebounds. Sullivan added a team-high five assists on the night.
• The Marauders forced 13 turnovers to their own seven. Millersville capitalized with 14 points off turnovers to Shepherd's five.
HEAD COACH CASEY STITZEL QUOTES
• On the game-ending buzzer-beater: "I honestly don't have words for that. I've never seen anything like that in my entire life. With guys out, the injuries that we've had.. the buzzer-beaters... I've been doing this for 15 years total and I've never seen a team have things happen to them that we've had."
• On Ryan Davis' breakout performance: "He played great. I thought he was aggressive on both ends. He's been getting better at practice, doing the right things, and it's starting to translate to the game. Obviously with guys out we needed him to step up and he did. He had a big offensive rebound down the stretch as well."
• On recovering from these two losses: "We have to keep fighting. I've honestly never seen anything like this. These guys are good kids, they're working hard. We have so many guys out with injuries, and combined with the buzzer-beaters... it's been a nightmare."
NOTES
• Millersville still leads the all-time series against Sheperd 8-2. Shepherd now holds a two-game win streak over the Marauders.
• This marks the second-consecutive game that the final score has been determined by a buzzer-beater from the opposing team.
UP NEXT
• The Marauders return to the road to face Lock Haven on Wednesday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m.
