MANSFIELD, Pa. - Jaden Faulkner recorded 33 points and 13 assists, and his two free throws in the closing seconds of overtime, helped the Millersville Marauders overcome a hot-shooting Mansfield club, 107-106. 

Mansfield (4-19, 3-19 PSAC) entered the game riding a three-game home winning streak and put quite a scare into the PSAC East-leading Marauders (21-4, 15-4 PSAC), who have now won 12-straight games and improved to 6-0 in games decided by five points or fewer. The Mountaineers drilled a season-high 12 3-pointers, including eight in a 52-point first half. Only one other team all season had made as many threes against Millersville, and Mansfield became the first team to shoot over 50% against Millersville since Dec. 19--a span of 15 games. 

But Millersville overcame it with Faulkner's season high in points and career high in assists. Justin Nwosu also grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds to go with 14 points, and Mekhi Hendricks drilled a career-high six 3-pointers for a season-high 20 points. 

It was Millersville's first overtime game since Dec. 21, 2019 and its first overtime win since Dec. 7, 2019. The 107 points were the most scored by a Millersville team since the 2017-18 season-opener, which was a double-overtime game and the most scored in a game shorter than two overtimes since 1993. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS
• With just under 11 minutes remaining in regulation, Mansfield led 83-73, and two minutes later, Millersville still trailed by seven. But in a span of fewer than two minutes, Nwosu scored five points, and Hendricks drilled a 3-pointer off a Nwosu assist for an 8-0 run that put the Marauders in front, 88-87. The Marauders led 98-95 in the closing minute of regulation, and with 41 seconds to play, Faulkner was fouled shooting. He made the first but missed the second, and quickly, Justice Smith pushed the ball up-court and scored his 30th point of the game with 34 seconds on the clock. With a four-second difference between the shot clock and game clock and two-point lead, Millersville could have nearly drained all of the time or forced Mansfield to foul. But the Marauders took a driving attempt with 19 seconds left, and it missed. Manir Waller threw an outlet pass to Smith, who tied the game with a lay-up. Millersville had one chance to win the game in regulations, and Hendricks' 3-pointer from the corner missed as time expired.
• The lead changed hands five times in a back-and-forth overtime session. With 30 seconds to go, Hendricks blocked a Marcus Friend lay-up attempt to get the ball back for the Marauders, trailing 106-105. Needing two for the lead, Faulkner drove to his right and picked up a shooting foul with 22 seconds on the clock. Faulkner sank both. With plenty of time to run a set, Mansfield could not get the ball into the hands of Smith, and instead, Friend took a long jumper that hit back iron at the buzzer. 

POSTGAME REACTION FROM COACH CASEY STITZEL
• On the final possessions in overtime: "We wanted to get Jaden in space. We were shooting it well from three. We wanted to give him the opportunity to make a play. On defense, Smith rejected the ball screen, and Jaden made a smart play and trapped him. We did a great job rotating and forced a step-back contested jumper. Mansfield played really well and shot it great."
• On contributions from the bench: "Mekhi was huge for us. He played some really good defense too. Justin and Ryan (Davis) gave us some really good minutes with Caden (Najdawi) laboring a little bit. Without our bench today we had no chance."
• On how the team is winning close games: "Good luck, older guys, and guys who refuse to lose. We never die. We knew it would be a tough game. They have a Division I talent in Justice Smith, and when the other guys start making threes it makes guarding Smith really hard. It was almost like a pick-up game, but we got the win on the road."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Faulkner made 11-of-17 shots and 9-of-11 free throws. Hendricks shot 6-of-11 from three. Khari Williams added 19 points and eight rebounds. Ryan Davis recorded a team-high three steals. 
• Four different Mountaineers made at least two 3-pointers. Smith tallied a game-high 36 points while Friend scored 24 with nine assists, and Scott Woodring scored 23. 

NOTES
• Nwosu's 19 rebounds were the most by a Marauder since Elijah Obade's 21 in 2012. 
• Millersville is now 5-0 in games decided by five points or fewer. 

NEXT
• Millersville has one more road game before finishing the regular season with back-to-back home games. The Marauders travel to Shepherd on Wednesday, Feb. 16.