Two red-hot teams play for first place in the East Saturday in Pucillo

Saturday, February 5

Millersville, PA

3:00 PM

Millersville University

East Stroudsburg

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Two red-hot teams play for first place in the East Saturday in Pucillo

2/4/2022 1:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

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Millersville Men's Basketball

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ABOUT THE GAMES

Millersville may have moved into first place in the PSAC East with Wednesday’s win at Shippensburg, but the East Stroudsburg Warriors come to Pucillo Gymnasium Saturday nipping at the Marauders’ heels. The Warriors, at 11-4 in PSAC play, sit just a half-game out of first place. Millersville plays four of its final six regular season games at home where it is 10-2. East Stroudsburg is 7-3 on the road and hasn’t lost on the road since Dec. 18. The Warriors have won six in a row on the road, including wins at Shippensburg and nationally-ranked Mercyhurst. With three teams within a half-game of first place, tiebreakers could play a major factor to determine the No. 1 seed. Millersville can clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker of ESU and would have an edge in the tiebreaker with Shippensburg with a win Saturday.
Millersville has won nine-straight games against the PSAC for the first time since 1993. It is the longest winning streak of any kind since the 2006-07 team won 16 in a row to start the season 16-1.

I'm a Kobe Bryant guy, and I remember him being asked why he wasn't smiling up 2-0 in the finals. He said, 'Why should I smile when the job's not finished?' We've got a great East Stroudsburg team coming to Pucillo Saturday and they are going to be really hyped to play us, so we've got to get ready for them"

Casey Stitzel, Millersville head coach

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

A key to Millersville’s success during its nine-game winning streak has been a balanced scoring attack. All five Millersville starters are averaging between 13.2 and 9.6 points per game on the season and during the winning streak, all five are averaging between 16.7 and 9.9 per game. The team has had four players score in double figures in seven of the last nine games. Four different players have led the team in scoring during that stretch as well. All five starters have also averaged between 8.0 and 11.0 shot attempts per game during the streak.
James Sullivan has averaged 16.7 points per game on 57.6% shooting from the field, 48.3% shooting from three and 84.6% from the line during the winning streak.
Even with a balanced offense that has shot 51% from the field and 37.4% from three, the defense has smothered opponents during the 9-0 stretch. Millersville has held its last nine opponents to 63.7 points per game (a margin of victory of 13.4 points per game), and teams are shooting 37.2% from the field and 24.4% from three.
Millersville’s 3-point defense has been excellent all season. On Wednesday against Shippensburg, it held the Raiders to 5-of-27 (.185) 3-point shooting--their lowest percentage since Dec. 12. Incredibly, only one team (Slippery Rock) has shot above 30% from three against Millersville during the Marauders’ nine-game winning streak. Millersville is 18-1 when holding opponents to under 35% from three. Not surprisingly, Millersville is No. 1 in the PSAC in 3-point shooting defense.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

East Stroudsburg has won seven of eight games since its home loss to Millersville on Jan. 12. Four of those wins have been decided by seven points or fewer. In the first 10 games of the season, ESU averaged 88 points per game but was 6-4 in that stretch. In the latest 7-1 run, the Warriors are averaging just 73 points per game but have been outstanding on defense, allowing just 65.6 points per game. East Stroudsburg is among the best in the PSAC at creating turnovers, ranking second with 17.6 per game. It also ranks third in steals at 9.4 per game. East Stroudsburg’s plus-2.74 turnover margin is second in the PSAC. Carlos Pepin is among the best interior players in the PSAC, ranking fifth in field goal percentage (.568) and sixth in rebounding (8.6). Pepin and Troy Jones are tied for seventh in the league in steals (1.7).

THE LAST TIME OUT

Millersville: Millersville 55, Shippensburg 51 (Feb. 2, 2022) - Every half-court possession was a war, but Millersville's Justin Nwosu, who totaled 14 points and 12 rebounds, hit the tie-breaking basket with 1:09 left and then sank two game-clinching free throws in the final seconds to give Millersville a hard-fought 55-51 victory.
East Stroudsburg: East Stroudsburg 84, Kutztown 77 (Feb. 2 2022) - Carlos Pepin and Lakeem McAliley led the Warriors in two impressive performances, combining for 48 points, 27 rebounds, four assists, seven steals and two blocks.

SERIES HISTORY VS. WARRIORS

East Stroudsburg won nine in a row in the series before 2020, but Millersville has won two of the last three. Expect a close game as the last four meetings have becided by eight points or fewer. The last meeting in Pucillo was an 82-79 win for Millersville (Jan. 6, 2020). In that game, James Sullivan shot 9-of-11 from the field, and Justin Nwosu shot 9-of-12 from the field.
The Last Meeting vs. East Stroudsburg - Millersville 76, East Stroudsburg 70 (Jan. 12, 2022): James Sullivan and Caden Najdawi both scored 22 points as the Millersville Marauders stormed back from a 15-point deficit to beat East Stroudsburg 76-70 and score their first win in Koehler Fieldhouse since 2009. The Warriors jumped out to a 30-15 lead utilizing the familiar formula of a full-court press and scoring off turnovers. But Millersville turned the tide with stifling half-court defense, holding East Stroudsburg--the second-ranked scoring offense in the PSAC--to just 25% shooting in the final 20 minutes. Millersville out-scored ESU byy a 42-28 margin after the break.