INDIANA, Pa. - An unforgettable season for the Millersville Marauders came to an end in Saturday's 71-65 loss to Mercyhurst in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Caden Najdawi gave the Marauders a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the Marauders were undone by a slow start from an offense that had struggled to find its rhythm all postseason.
Just one week earlier, Millersville (25-7) locked down the Lakers (25-5) for a 59-53 win that not only put it in the PSAC title game but also very likely secured its spot in the NCAA Tournament. Millersville once again held the Lakers' efficient offense largely in check, as the Lakers shot 36.5% from the field and 6-of-21 from three, but Michael Bradley got free for a game-high 20 points. Najdawi buoyed the Marauders early, posting a double-double in the first half alone, but Millersville couldn't piece together the run it needed, shooting under 40% for the field for the fourth consecutive game and failing to break 65 for the third-straight game.
"I think there were 10 or 15 plays if we could get back it would be a different ball game," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "But we are happy to be the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. You can't predict who you will play, and they were ready coming off the loss. I have a lot of respect for (Mercyhurst coach) Gary (Manchel). They made some adjustments, but our shots just didn't go in. We guarded and rebounded the way we were supposed to, we just needed to make more shots."
Najdawi scored half of Millersville's 26 first-half points and aside from his 5-of-7, the team shot 6-of-25. James Sullivan, who carried the Marauders with 30 points in the first match-up with Mercyhurst, found open shots tougher to come by Saturday. He finished with 10 on 4-of-14 shooting.
"You know when you play Mercyhurst you will see the match-up zone," said Stitzel. "We got the ball into Caden early. That was our biggest adjustment, putting in some actions to get mismatches on their switches, and I thought we did a great job of that. Eventually, they started doubling Caden and we just had to make shots. You can play a really good game but if the ball doesn't go in the basket, it can end your season. They didn't do anything adjustment wise that was something we didn't expect. We just had to play better on the offensive end."
Millersville jumped out to a 7-2 advantage, but Mercyhurst scored 14 of the game's next 16 points, and Millersville went without a point for nearly six minutes. Millersville never again came within three points, and Mercyhurst pushed its advantage to 15 on a MiyKah McIntosh 3-pointer with 16:39 to play.
Millersville had one charge left in it, though, and a 9-2 run capped by a Sullivan 15-footer brought the Marauders to within 50-45 with 7:36 to play. The eight-minute media timeout marked a turning point in the PSAC Semifinal game where Millersville made its move for a comeback win. In Saturday's NCAA game, however, it was Mercyhurst that made a run out of the media timeout that changed the game. Mercyhurst called a timeout after Sullivan's bucket, and out of the break, Aidan Reichert and Michael Bradley made back-to-back buckets while Millersville came up empty on two tries, and the Lakers' lead was back to nine. Jaden Faulkner worked his way to the free throw line late, and four-straight makes pulled the Marauders to within 60-55 with 2:31 remaining. But a three-point play from Mercyhurst's Jeff Planutis halted any and all Millersville momentum, and the eight-point lead proved insurmountable.
"It's hard when you are playing a good team that is well-coached to keep chasing them," said Stitzel. "That (PSAC Tournament) game was more back-and-forth. When you are playing a good team on a neutral site, when you have to keep chasing, you have to almost play perfect basketball. That's really hard to do."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville held a 44-38 advantage on the glass, and it is the first time all season the Marauders lost a game in which it won the rebounding battle. They were 18-0 with more rebounds and 16-0 with 40 or more rebounds entering the game.
• Mercyhurst turned the Marauders over 13 times while committing just six. That's standard procedure for a Lakers squad that leads the PSAC in turnover margin and forced turnovers per game.
Khari Williams scored 15 points and added seven rebounds. Faulkner finished with 13, nine of which came at the free throw line.
A LEGACY EARNED
• The 2021-22 Marauders put Millersville basketball back on the map. They won the program's first PSAC East crown since 2008, reached the PSAC Championship game for the first time since 2007 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008. Its 25 wins were the most since the 2007 club set a program record with 28. Prior to this season, Millersville had not advanced past the PSAC Tournament quarterfinals in 15 years.
• Stitzel on the team's leadership: "I think from our first meeting this year we talked about making no excuses and handling adversity. The only way you can do that is to have players who hold each other accountable and listen. They were special with that. They would challenge each other. I didn't have to manage egos, disciplining guys at practice. When you have great guys, great seniors and great leaders, you have a chance to have a 25-win season, be the PSAC East champs and get the NCAA Tournament. It's not the talent that won us those games, it's the intangibles."
SENIOR SALUTE
• The game was the last in the careers of Millersville seniors Caden Najdawi, James Sullivan, D'Marco Suggs and Khari Williams. Najdawi, Sullivan and Suggs were part of Stitzel's first recruiting class, and they committed one year after Millersville went 4-22. Williams joined the group two years later. Najdawi, Sullivan and Williams all scored over 1,000 career points, finishing in the top 25 in program history in scoring. Sullivan also cracked the top 10 in assists, steals and 3-pointers. Najdawi finished in the top 10 in rebounding and blocks, and Williams made it into the top 10 in 3-pointers made. Najdawi recorded his 25th career double-double Saturday night, and Sullivan played in his 119th game--a total that ranks second only to 'Ville hall of famer Charlie Parker.
• Williams on what made the team special: "We all became brothers. Since the beginning of the year, we focused on overcoming adversity. We set some goals at the beginning of the season and we met three of the four. We were selfless. James could score 30 one night, and the next night, it's someone else, and everyone was happy to see each other succeed. That's all I can ask for, are brothers who want me to succeed as much as I want them to succeed.
• Suggs on the impact of the senior class: "We took the next step. Every year we got further and further. This year, we accomplished a lot of things we didn't accomplish last year. And we've got a lot of good players coming back, and Coach Stitzel is here, so I think next year they'll be ready to take another step. It was just about building every single year."
