MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Caden Najdawi sat on the sidelines and watched Millersville lose two nail-biters to Shepherd during the regular season. But on Monday night, in the first round of the PSAC Tournament, Najdawi scored 25 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and swatted two shots, and the Marauders celebrated the junior's 21st birthday with a victory over the visiting Rams, 79-69. 

The win was Millersville's first in the postseason since 2015 and advances the Marauders to play PSAC East champ Shippensburg Wednesday on the road. Najdawi was backed by 17 points and five assists from James Sullivan, whose 3-pointer in the final minute provided the exclamation point for a raucous Pucillo Gymnasium crowd. Khari Williams got the Marauders rolling early, scoring all 15 points in the first half, and Justin Nwosu added 11 points, nine rebounds and three steals. 

Shepherd's Thomas Lang, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer at Millersville in January, scored 22 in the one-point win at Shepherd and finished as the PSAC leader in 3-pointers made and 3-point shooting, finished with 17 well-earned points, but Sullivan and company limited the guard to two points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half. Lang scored 12 of his points in the final 6:43 while trying to rally the Rams back from 17 points down. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 
• Najdawi set the tone on the game's opening possession, scoring on a right-handed hook shot in the paint. Millersville raced to an 8-0 lead with back-to-back 3-pointers from Williams and Nwosu. Millersville's lead ballooned to 15 points (23-8) with 11:33 left in the first half, but Shepherd responded by making 7-of-8 field goals and 5-of-5 free throws over the next seven minutes, taking a 30-29 lead on the 22-6 run. The lead lasted only seconds, though, as Nwosu scored out of a Millersville timeout. Shepherd never again held the lead. 
• A 9-2 Millersville run between 12:50 and 8:54 in the second half pushed Millersville's lead to 17--its largest of the game. The Marauders maintained that 17-point advantage until the 6:43 mark when Lang finally shook free of Millersville's sticky defense. He scored 12 consecutive points, and Kyle Daggett converted a 3-point play, capping a 13-2 run, and slashing the Marauders' lead to 71-67 with 4:24 to play. Najdawi, however, had the answer. With the Marauders in desperate need of points, the 50 percent free throw shooter hit two on a one-and-one, and made one more on the Marauders' next possession to get the lead back to seven. Daggett scored in the pain with 3:04 left, but the Marauders made four consecutive defensive stops to close out the game while Mekhi Hendricks made a pair of free throws and Sullivan drilled a shot-clock-beating 3-pointer with 25 seconds left. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Najdawi's double-double was his eighth in 22 games and his second in a row. He made 10-of-20 shots, 5-of-7 free throws and four of his 14 rebounds came on the offensive glass. 
• Sullivan scored 14 of his 17 in the second half. He also led the team in assist and tied for the team-high in steals with three. 
• Millersville shot 48.6 percent from the field and got by with just 6-of-18 shooting from three and 13 made free throws. Shepherd shot 43.9 percent overall, 8-of-23 from three and 11-of-13 from the line. 

POSTGAME REACTION FROM COACH CASEY STITZEL
• On the performance of Najdawi: "We thought we could hurt Shepherd inside. At home, the way he has been playing, in my opinion he's playing like a first team all-league player. In my mind the best big in the league. He's playing out of his mind with intensity and leading, and they didn't have an answer. Not only did he have 25 and 14, he affected their shots at the rim and let us play a little different defensively. In the first two games we had to run out on their shooters. This time we could sink him in the middle, run their shooters off the line and get some blocked shots. He was great at both ends. What a great way to celebrate your 21st birthday."
• On stopping Shepherd's last run: "This time of a year, with a player like Lang, you know he's going to do everything he can to extend his career. When he went off and got the lead down, we answered. In the past, we would have let it get tied. But for us to get that answer was cool for the growth of our program. James' shot was a dagger. That's what we've been missing--that last shot for the dagger."
• On what the win means to the program: "This year has been tough. It's taken a weird direction. Buzzer-beaters, guys out, they just kept working. We kept fighting through adversity. Last year at this time, when Kutztown punched us we didn't punch back. We talked about that yesterday. Not only were we trying to get back at Shepherd for those two close losses, we are also trying to redeem ourselves from last year. We did it. We got stops, we pounded the glass. We made really good adjustments. The credit goes to these guys. They deserve to feel this win."
• On what the win means to the program:On the importance of winning a playoff game: "It's huge. A lot of people don't understand that when you are rebuilding a program you just don't wake up one year and you are a PSAC champion. There are steps to be taken. We took some steps last year but we didn't respond to the adversity in the second half against Kutztown. This year, it was the complete opposite. We answered the bell. Everyone that played today contributed. The culture is strong. The guys are doing the right stuff. It's cool to see the rebuild starting to take off and hopefully we can take another step Wednesday."

NOTES
• Williams' career point total is up to 993. He is seven points shy of becoming the 37th Marauder to score 1,000 career points. 
• Monday's game was the first-ever postseason meeting between Millersville and Shepherd. It was also Shepherd's first-ever PSAC Tournament game. Millersville snapped Shepherd's three-game winning streak in the series. 
• Millersville improved to 15-8 all-time in PSAC Tournament games played in Pucillo Gymnasium. 

UP NEXT
• Millersville and Shippensburg tip at 7:30 p.m., from Heiges Field House on Wednesday evening. The PSAC Quarterfinal game marks the fourth PSAC Tournament meeting between the clubs. Millersville holds a 2-1 edge. Shippensburg won the first round game at Heiges Field House in 2018.