MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Millersville seniors Caden Najdawi, James Sullivan, D'Marco Suggs and Khari Williams came back for a fifth season for games just like this one. Riding an emotional Senior Day wave, the Marauders dismantled visiting Lock Haven 85-50 to win their first PSAC East crown since 2007.
 
The seniors came in as part of Casey Stitzel's first recruiting class in 2017-18, and on Saturday, in front of a raucous Pucillo Gymnasium crowd that anticipated the end of a 15-year divisional drought from the tip, they delivered virtuoso performances. Suggs scored a season-high 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting off the bench, Khari Williams poured in a game-high 18 points, hitting 4-of-7 3-pointers, and his shooting sparked the Marauders early. Najdawi totaled 13 points and eight rebounds while swatting two shots and handing out a career-high five assists. Sullivan, long revered as the Marauders' lock-down defender, lived up to that billing once again with three steals and two blocks to go with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
 
Any championship is special. But for Stitzel, who came to Millersville the year after the program hit rock bottom with four wins in 2016, it's extra special to win the PSAC East with this group—a group that in unison decided that the lost COVID-19 season of 2021 would not be their last.
 
"I've coached a lot of groups, and I've been blessed to have some good ones, but this is as good as I've been around, said Stitzel. "They've sacrificed for each other. There are no egos. This senior group said yes to me when I had nothing to sell. I just owe them the world. They made me a better coach, brought the program back, and they made me a better person. I will never forget that. This group is just special."
 
With East Stroudsburg staying even in the standings and winning earlier in the day at West Chester, Millersville faced a must-win game for the division crown. The Marauders left little room for any doubt, starting the game with its trademark defensive pressure and a super-charged transition game that turned five Lock Haven turnovers into four breakaway dunks in the game's first 10 minutes. That, coupled with the 3-point shooting of Williams,  put Millersville in front by double-figures before the first 10 minutes had elapsed.
 
"Starting that way was huge," said Stitzel. "Credit to everyone who came out. When you get a crowd like that, it really helps the guys. It really got us going. And our defense, we've talked about it all year. Defense led to offense, got us out in transition that led to threes and dunks. Two games in a row, we've defended the way we are supposed to defend, and that's what we'll have to do if we want to make noise in the playoffs."
 
Millersville had held Lock Haven to just 19 first-half points in the Jan. 24 meeting, and the Bald Eagles made just 2-of-13 3-pointers, shooting 35.7% from the field with 24 turnovers at Millersville Saturday. Those turnovers were turned into 31 Millersville points, and the Marauders' 15 steals were a season-high. Sullivan, Davis and Justin Nwosu all recorded three. Millersville, meanwhile, shot 53.1% from the field—hitting the 50% mark for the sixth time in the last eight games.
 
Once the lead hit double-digits, Millersville continued to pour it on, closing the first half on a 22-8 run that featured seven points from Najdawi. Millersville's lead grew to 58-28 with 13 minutes left in the game on a hook shot from Najdawi. The Marauders continued to expand the lead until Kai Cipalla's bucket put the score at its final difference in the final minute. 

POSTGAME REACTION FROM COACH CASEY STITZEL
• On the importance of the bench playing well entering the postseason: "With a bench like ours, they know to be ready. We have guys on our bench who would start other places, and they know that, but they sacrifice because this is what they wanted—to be on a good team with a chance to go far. With the foul trouble lately, D'Marco, Mekhi, Ryan, Jahme, they've been great. When we get that kind of play it makes us tough to beat."
• On the feeling in the locker room: "The job's not finished. It's step one of four. This was one. Two is to get to the PSAC final four, three is to win the PSAC Tournament, and four is the NCAA Tournament. To get the first one is big. We've played well since that Shippensburg loss at home, which was probably the low point of our season. Everyone came together, stayed humble, and that's a big reason why they get better."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville's bench outscored Lock Haven's by 36-6 margin. In addition to Suggs' 10, Ryan Davis added 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting with three steals. Mekhi Hendricks chipped in seven points.

NOTES
• Saturday was also Alumni Day at Millersville, and among the attendees were Charlie Parker, who was on Millersville's last PSAC East title-winning team, and Bob Bradfield, who won three PSAC East titles in 1986, 1987 and 1989.
• It is the 11^th PSAC East Championship in program history, and the 23^rd win is the eighth-best total in a season.
• Sullivan moved into 10^th place in career assists.

NEXT
• The win put Millersville as a No. 1 seed in the PSAC Tournament, and they await the winner of Monday's West Chester-Shepherd game on Wednesday at 7 p.m.