Marauders put winning streak on the line in key regional match-up vs. Slippery Rock

Wednesday, January 26

Millersville, PA

7:30 PM

Millersville University

Slippery Rock

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Millersville vs. Mansfield men's basketball at Pucillo Gym in Millersville, PA on Saturday, January 22, 2022. Mark Palczewski/Millersville Athletics Photo.

Photo by: Mark Palczewski

Marauders put winning streak on the line in key regional match-up vs. Slippery Rock

1/25/2022 10:47:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

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ABOUT THE GAMES

Millersville rolls into Wednesday’s cross-divisional match-up with Slippery Rock as winners of five in a row. Millersville is 9-2 at home this season while Slippery Rock has played just three road games and owns a 2-1 record. The Rock is 5-0 against the PSAC East and is coming off a close, 73-66 loss to No. 11 Mercyhurst while Millersville has won its last five games by an average of 17.6 points. Monday’s win at Lock Haven paired with Shippensburg’s last-second loss at Kutztown pulled Millersville to within one game of first place in the PSAC East. Wednesday is Millersville’s last home game before a three-game road stretch.

The message is to keep getting better, defend home court. Slippery Rock is a good team. We did not play well against the (PSAC) West in the first semester, and it is an opportunity to redeem our losses and keep getting better.

Casey Stitzel, Millersville head coach

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

Millersville has been solid on offense in its recent 7-1 stretch, averaging 81.6 points per game while shooting 51.7% from the field, 36% from three and 70.6% from the line. Of the seven Marauders with at least 25 attempts in the last eight games, six are shooting better than 50% from the field. As a team, Millersville has shot at least 49% in four of the last five games.
Balanced scoring has also been key in the 7-1 stretch with five players averaging between 10.6 and 14.9 points per game. Millersville has had at least four players score double figures in five of the last eight games. That stretch mirrors the successful 6-0 start to the season in which four Marauders hit double figures in four of those six games. Millersville is 9-1 when at least four players score 10 or more points.
Millersville is 12-1 overall and 7-1 against the PSAC when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent. Millersville has shot better than 50% from the field in two consecutive games and is now 6-0 when reaching that mark.
Millersville out-rebounded Lock Haven by 20, and it now leads the PSAC and ranks seventh in Division II in rebounding margin (9.8). Millersville has out-rebounded its last two opponents by a combined total of 50. Rebounding is certainly a team effort for the Marauders as only Caden Najdawi--fifth with 8.4 rebounds per game--ranks among the PSAC’s top 25 rebounders.

SCOUTING THE ROCK

Slippery Rock was ranked No. 8 in this week’s D2SIDA Atlantic Region poll while Millersville was just on the outside of the top 10 receiving votes. The Rock’s four losses have all come by single digits and three of the losses came against teams ranked in the top six in the D2SIDA Atlantic Region poll. Between Jan. 17-22, Slippery Rock had three games postponed. The Rock is accustomed to playing close games as 10 of the 14 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Their scoring offense ranks fourth in the PSAC. Millersville has played five of the top seven scoring teams in the PSAC and are 2-3 in those games. Slippery Rock ranks 17th in free throw attempts per game and 15th in 3-point shooting but are sixth in overall shooting percentage, third in rebounding margin and second in offensive rebounds.

THE LAST TIME OUT

Millersville: Millersville 71, Lock Haven 49 (Jan. 14, 2022) - Millersville took its defensive "A" game to Lock Haven Monday evening and pestered the Bald Eagles shooters for 40 minutes in a 71-49 win that extended Millersville's winning streak to five.Caden Najdawi battled through a physical game in the post to lead four Marauders in double figures with 14 points. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and blocked two shots. James Sullivan tallied 12 points and seven rebounds and also led the team with seven assists and two steals. Jaden Faulkner scored 10 of his 13 in the first half as Millersville defended its way to a 19-point halftime lead. The Marauders held Lock Haven to just 15 first-half points, and the home team missed all 10 3-pointer attempts in the first 20 minutes before finishing 3-of-21 for the game.
Slippery Rock: Mercyhurst 73, Slippery Rock 66 (Jan. 24 2022) - Mercyhurst held Slippery Rock to a season-low shooting percentage of .379 (25-of-66) that included a 6-of-25 showing from 3-point range. Amante Britt scored 17 points while grabbing four rebounds, passing out two assists, blocking one shot and coming away with one steal to lead The Rock. Frankie Hughes also finished in double figures, scoring 12 points to go with six rebounds, two steals, two assists and one block.

SERIES HISTORY VS. ROCK

While the series between Millersville and Slippery Rock began in 1931, the teams have played just 31 times in the 90 years since. Slippery Rock has won seven of the last eight meetings dating back to 2009-10. The Rock has not played at Pucillo Gymnasium since 2017-18 and has made the trip to Millersville just once since 2014. Millersville’s last win over The Rock came at home during the 2013-14 season by an 87-78 final.
The Last Meeting vs. Slippery Rock - Slippery Rock 81, Millersville 80 (Jan. 20, 2020): Slippery Rock trailed by 20 points with just over 12 minutes remaining but rallied back to beat Millersville 81-80 on a wild finish that resulted in a Donovan Walker bucket as time expired. Millersville’s Khari Williams sank both shots of a one-and-one to give Millersville a one-point lead with five seconds remaining. With no timeouts, Slippery Rock heaved a full court pass that was initially broken up by Millersville at the foul line. Micah Till, who led all scorers with 28 and powered The Rock’s comeback, gathered the ball at the 3-point line, hoisted a fade away that was partially blocked by Ryan Davis. Walker, racing toward the basket, caught the deflection in stride and flipped the ball up off the glass and into the basket his right hand from the left side.