MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Millersville bench led the way in Friday's home victory over the visiting Edinboro Fighting Scots as Keith Mency scored a career-high 15 points while Drew Stover followed with 13 points and five rebounds to improve the Marauders' home record to 4-0 and give the team a 1-0 start in Pennsylvania State Athlete Conference (PSAC) play.
 
'Ville (4-3, 1-0 PSAC) took its first lead of the game at the 13:43 mark of first half play and refused to give it back for the remaining 27 minutes of action. Stover checked in at the 13:55 mark with the Marauders trailing 10-8 and made an immediate impact, assisting Jahme Ested on a layup to tie the game at 10 before scoring four consecutive points a couple minutes later, including an emphatic dunk to give the Marauders a seven-point lead with nine minutes remaining the first. The Marauders would end the first half with a six-point advantage.
 
Millersville has struggled closing out leads in the second half this season and went back-and-forth with the Scots (2-4, 0-1 PSAC) during the final 20 minutes of Friday's game. The Marauders started the half off on a good note, building a ten-point lead after a bucket from Matt Dade and a pair of free-throws from Justin Nwosu; however, the Scots would respond with an 8-0 run to cut the 'Ville lead down to two with just over 15 minutes to play. Edinboro would continue to chop at the lead before a pair of Marauder layups and five straight Mency points pushed 'Ville's lead back to 10 with 12 minutes left.
 
'Ville would keep its lead heading into the final minutes of play, and like its win over Bowie State earlier this week, they converted from the charity stripe, going 5-7 down to stretch. With the win, the Marauders improved their all-time home record against Edinboro to 14-0.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The Marauders scored 21 points off of Edinboro turnovers, compared to the Fighting Scots nine off of Marauder mistakes.
• J.D. Gross set a new career-high with three assists which tied for the team lead.
• Mekhi Hendricks dished out three assists and grabbed a season-high six boards.
• Along with his career-high in points, Mency drained a career-high three three-point shots, going 3-6 from beyond the arch.
• Millersville held Edinboro to 34% shooting, including a 22% mark from three.
 
UP NEXT
• The Marauders will be back in action on Saturday at Pucillo Gymnasium against Mercyhurst. The two programs faced off twice during the 2021-22 postseason as Millersville knocked Mercyhurst out in the PSAC Semifinals and the Lakers returned the favor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Saturday's game is slated for a 3 p.m. start.