ABOUT THE GAMES

• Millersville’s path to its first PSAC East title since 2007 is simple: win two games. The Marauders and East Stroudsburg enter the final week of the regular season with identical 15-5 records, and Shippensburg sits a game back in the standings. Millersville owns the tiebreaker against both teams via its sweep of East Stroudsburg. Millersville hosts a pair of playoff teams in West Chester (Wednesday) and Lock Haven (Saturday), both of which have been put together recent winning streaks. Millersville could also clinch the PSAC East with a win and ESU loss. East Stroudsburg has Mansfield at home before traveling to West Chester for the regular season finale. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• Millersville had the weekend off, and the bye came at an opportune time for a Millersville team that had won 12 in a row--its longest PSAC winning streak since 1993--before the road loss to Shepherd. While Millersville has lost just five games, it has allowed an average of 83.0 points per game (compared to 69.0 in all 26 games), and four of the five teams shot better than 49% from the field and four of the five made at least eight 3-pointers. Millersville has allowed only eight opponents to hit eight or more threes, and it is 17-1 when holding teams to fewer than eight threes. 
• Prior to the loss at Shepherd, Millersville had won four-straight games by a single-digit margin. Millersville is 2-0 in overtime and 10-0 in games decided by eight points or fewer. 
• Millersville has been outstanding at home this season, posting a 12-2 record while outscoring opponents on average 82.4-66.9. Millersville has shot 49.6% from the field and 36.8% from three at home while holding teams to 39.8% from the field and 29.4% from three. Millersville also holds a plus-11.4 margin in rebounding at home. 
• Three Millersville seniors are making their way into the Millersville records. James Sullivan ranks 27th in points (1,239), fifth in steals (158) and eighth in threes made (172). Sullivan also needs just seven assists to crack the top 10. Sullivan’s 114 games played is sixth all-time, and four of the five players ahead of him are in the hall of fame. Khari Williams ranks 21st in scoring with 1,354 points, and he’s ninth in threes with 159. Caden Najdawi is 30th in points (1,205) and needs six blocks to move into fifth place and 14 rebounds to move into 10th. 
   

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN RAMS

• West Chester owns the PSAC’s highest scoring offense at 84.6 points per game, and the Golden Rams pile up points using efficient 3-point shooting and offensive rebounds. The Rams rank third in the PSAC with 36.4% shooting from three, and they lead the league in total rebounds (43.3) and offensive rebounds per game (15.6). The Rams have shot better than 35% from three 14 times and are 11-3 when they hit that mark. They have been out-rebounded just three times all season. In the first meeting of the season, Millersville was within one rebound (42-41), and held the Rams to 29.2% shooting from three. Leading scorer Robert Smith leads the team at 14.3 ponts per game, shooting 48.8% from three. He scored a season-low five points and made 1-of-4 threes in the first meeting against Millersville. 
   

THE LAST TIME OUT

• Millersville: Shepherd 89, Millersville 71 (Feb. 16, 2022) -  hepherd put an emphatic end to Millersville's 12-game winning streak, topping the visiting Marauders, 89-71. Millersville struggled at both ends of the court, and its early offensive woes were compounded on defense as Shepherd buried the Marauders in an avalanche of 3-pointers and made buckets. The Rams drilled 11-of-21 threes and shot 61.1% from the field in the game, including 62% in a 45-27 first-half onslaught. It was a stunning offensive performance for a Shepherd team that entered the game averaging 65 points per game and hadn't scored more than 81 in regulation all season. Shepherd had shot better than 50% just three times before Wednesday's game. 
• West Chester: West Chester 87, Lock Haven 83 (Feb. 19 2022) - Elijah Allen (19 points) and Kyle McGhee (24 points) but turned in a career-high points. Lock Haven made a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to pull within three points, but both teams missed free throws, and Lock Haven missed a game-tying shot in the final seconds. 
   

SERIES HISTORY VS. WEST CHESTER

• The Millersville-West Chester rivalry has been highly competitive throughout its history, which dates back to 1904. West Chester had won 11 in a row between 2014-2019, but Millersville has since won two of the last three, including the 73-72 win at West Chester in January. Millersville won the last meeting at Pucillo 97-71 (2020), and even during WCU’s 11-game winning streak, four of the five games inside Pucillo were decided by single-digits.
• The Last Meeting vs. West Chester - Millersville 73, West Chester 72 (Jan. 19, 2022): Jaden Faulkner made a free throw on each of Millersville’s final two possessions--the second coming with seven seconds left--to erase a late one-point deficit and top West Chester 73-72 in Hollinger Field House Wednesday evening. While the Marauders led by as many as 14 in the first half, West Chester had rallied to lead by as many as seven in the second. But over the final 10 minutes, neither team led by more than four, the game stood tied three times and the lead changed hands five times. West Chester’s Kyle McGhee had a 3-pointer that missed as time expired.