MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Claflin tried everything it could to slow down Millersville Sunday on day two of the Ron Wilson Classic. A 2-3 zone, a 1-3-1, man-to-man. And when switching defenses didn't work, the Panthers slowed the pace of the game with fouls. But none of it worked against the Marauders, who played through the physicality and cruised to an 81-59 victory. 

Millersville is off to its first 2-0 start since the 2011-12 season. And including the 86-61 trouncing of Frostburg State on Saturday, Millersville has opened the season with back-to-back 20-point wins for the first time since 1936-37 when John Pucillo's team started the year with a 57-29 win over Susquehanna and a 51-27 win against Howard. 

Jaden Faulkner's 16 points led four Marauders in double figures, and Millersville topped 80 for the second-consecutive game. Claflin sent Millersville to the line 42 times on 28 fouls--two Panthers fouled out and two others finished with four fouls. Faulkner alone got to the line 12 times and made 10. The 42 free throws were the most attempted by Millersville since Jan. 3, 2014 when it attempted 42 in a win over Slippery Rock. 

One day earlier, Claflin took Clarion into overtime by sinking 11 3-pointers. Millersville's defense, however, offered little breathing room for Panthers. Millersville held the visitors to 2-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. The defensive effort of James Sullivan was particularly notable as he blanketed Donell Frayer Jr.--a player that had scored 27 points just 24 hours earlier. Sullivan held Frayer Jr. to five points on 2-of-6 shooting and 0-of-2 shooting from three. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 
• Millersville scored the game's first six points and led throughout. It needed just nine minutes to build its first double-digit lead, and after Sullivan's 3-pointer with 5:07 left in the first half put the Marauders up 29-18, they never led by fewer than 11 points the rest of the game. Sullivan, who scored all 11 of his points in the first half, also beat the halftime buzzer with a driving floater that gave the Marauders a 40-27 edge at the break. 
• Millersville extended its lead to 30 points (70-40) using a 12-1 run from the 12:03 mark to Khari Williams' triple with nine minutes to play. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• In addition to Faulkner's 16 and Sullivan's 11, Caden Najdawi added 13 points and nine rebounds. Williams recorded 12 points, five rebounds and three steals. 
• Millersville shot 47.8% from the field and 42.9% from three while Claflin shot 37.9% from the field and 18.2% from three. 

POSTGAME REACTION FROM COACH CASEY STITZEL
• On finding offense in a physical game: "They changed defenses in the first half, and early in the season, that can bother some teams. But having some older guys who have seen PSAC schools who do it regularly helped us with that. We hit a couple threes at the end of the half that took some momentum into the half. When it was a foul fest in the second half, it is harder to get into a rhythm. But we shot fouls better in the second half, and we got stops and got out into transition. There is a lot of room for growth for us on offense as we start to figure out our roles."
• On the defense as the teams identity: "We held them under 40% and beat another team on the glass today. That's our goal every game. It's going to be a hard goal but we've done it twice in two games. That kid had 27 last night and got Claflin back in the game, and James never let him go today. I thought our energy level in the first half wasn't as high as it was against Frostburg, so I challenged them to take it up a notch. The first eight games of the second half really set the tone. We are going to be a defensive team, and rebounding is a big emphasis everyday. We will keep working on the offense and get all pistons firing."

NOTES
• Millersville's starting lineup of Faulkner, Williams, Sullivan, Najdawi and Justin Nwosu outscored Claflin 26-13 in the 12:52 played together. 
• In Sullivan's 35:18 on the floor, Millersville out-scored Claflin by 26 points--74-48. 

UP NEXT
• Millersville plays in a big Atlantic Region match-up with 2-0 West Virginia State Wednesday evening at Pucillo Gymnasium. Tip is set for 8 p.m., following the conclusion of the Millersville women's home opener.