SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - All was going right for the Millersville men's basketball team for the first nine minutes, but momentum swung in a big way after a Shippensburg timeout and the homestanding Raiders managed to fend off a scrappy Marauders bunch in the second half for a 76-65 win in Heiges Field House. 

Over the final 11 minutes of the first half and into the first minute of the second, Shippensburg used a 27-4 run to open up a lead as great as 38-20. Millersville turned to a press a furiously work its way back into the game, cutting the deficit to as few as seven with just over eight minutes to play and ended up outscoring the Raiders 45-40 over the final 20 minutes, shooting 59.3 percent from the floor after sinking just 27.6 percent of its shots in the first. 

Shippensburg improved to 9-3 (5-1 PSAC) while Millersville dropped its second consecutive game to fall to 5-7 (2-4 PSAC). 

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Millersville held an 18-17 lead with 7:14 left in the half but managed just two more points before the halftime buzzer hit. Shippensburg outscored the Marauders 19-2 while Millersville went 1-for-10 with five turnovers. 
• With shots starting to fall, Millersville pulled within 10 on back-to-back possessions midway through the second half but Shippensburg answered with 3-pointers from Dom Sleva and Lamar Talley to keep the Marauders from gaining any more ground. With 10:04 left, Mekhi Hendricks sank two foul shots, and after a Ship miss, Caden Najdawi scored inside to make the score 54-47. On the Raiders' very next offensive trip, however, they grabbed two offensive rebounds before Jake Bliss scored. A Millersville turnover turned into a Carlos Carter bucket, and in just over a minute, the Ship lead was back to double figures. Millersville got the deficit to nine one more time but no closer. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Justin Nwosu led the Marauders with a season-high 17 points and also grabbed seven rebounds. Hendricks finished with 16 on 6-of-12 shooting. Najdawi added 12 points and seven rebounds. 
• Both teams shot 43 percent from the field and both made 12 free throws. Shippensburg made six threes to Millersville's five. The big difference came on the glass where Shippensburg held a 46-31 advantage and grabbed 16 offensive boards which turned into 18 second chance points. 

POSTGAME REACTION FROM COACH STITZEL
• On what the team can learn from its second-half performance: "I said to the team in the locker room, as we continue to find ourselves, every game we have to play hard. We played hard tonight. And at this stage, every game is either a win or a learn. It was good game for us to learn. That run (Shippensburg) made, that stretch killed us. We played well enough in the first 10 minutes and in the second half but you can't be down 16 at the half. You can be down six. Good teams like Ship on their home court are going to go on runs. It can't be a run like that. i thought we were very good defensively in the first half. We stole some possessions but couldn't score. Then, they got too many offensive rebounds in the second. They are a good team with a lot of experienced guys but our guys fought and stuck together." 
• On Nwosu returning to the lineup: "He was more aggressive and comfotable. With him being away at home, when he came back, he came back looking fresher. This was his best week of practice. Mekhi stepped up. We just need James and Khari to have their normal games and get it all firing--four, five, six guys at once instead of one or two." 

NOTES
• Shippensburg has now won five of the last six games against Millersville including six in a row in Heiges Field House. 
• Shippensburg entered the game ranked third in the PSAC in scoring defense, allowing just over 67 points per game and has now held teams to 68 points or fewer in seven of eight home games. 
• Millersville dropped to 0-6 on the road with the loss. 

UP NEXT
• Millersville returns to Pucillo Gymnasium on Monday for a 7:30 p.m., tip vs. East Stroudsburg. All ticket sales will be donated to the family of East Stroudsburg play Ryan Smith, who has been battling leukemia since his diagnosis in August.