Millersville and West Chester battle with PSAC East hopes on the line

Wednesday, February 22

West Chester, PA

7:30 PM

Millersville University

West Chester

Millersville and West Chester battle with PSAC East hopes on the line

2/21/2023 10:39:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

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ABOUT THE GAME

Regular season games don’t get any bigger than this. Longtime rivals Millersville and West Chester are deadlocked in the PSAC East standings, one game out of first place with two games remaining. Wednesday’s game could determine the winner of the PSAC East, and it will certainly factor into which teams receive the coveted first-round bye in the PSAC Tournament. Four teams sit within 1 1/2 games of first place. Millersville already holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Shippensburg and can get the tiebreaker with West Chester with a win on Wednesday. West Chester is 11-3 at home, winning five in a row. Overall, West Chester has won six of the last seven while Millersville has won 10 of the last 11.
Both Millersville and West Chester have grown accustomed to playing close games lately. Since Jan. 18, the Marauders are 6-0 in games decided by single digits. West Chester’s last five wins have all come by 10 points or fewer. West Chester has won two games in a row on buzzer-beater shots. Elijah Allen hit the winner in the 64-63 win over Shepherd, and Kyle McGhee made a three in the final seconds of the 81-78 win over Lock Haven.

CLUTCH!!! Justin Nwosu beats the buzzer! pic.twitter.com/3ak9hDPHsg
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) February 16, 2023

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

Mekhi Hendricks scored a season-high 18 points in the first meeting of the season, and Hendricks has a history of playing well against West Chester. He scored 15 in last season’s playoff game, and in his last three games vs. West Chester, Hendricks has averaged 13.7 points and 3.3 assists per game. Hendricks has scored 18 points against WCU twice in his career.
Millersville has now won 17-plus games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since since 2006-07/2007-08 and for just the third time since 1996. Millersville is also trying to win back-to-back PSAC East titles for the first time since 2001-02/2002-03.
Jahme Ested is in the midst of his best stretch of basketball this season. Over the last four games, the guard has averaged 11.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game while hitting 8-of-10 3-pointers. He’s made a three in six-straight games.
Drew Stover has scored 10-plus points in four of the last five games, and his shot blocking has jumped as well lately. He’s blocked 10 shots in the last seven games.

SCOUTING WEST CHESTER

West Chester's guards, Robert Smith, Kyle McGhee and Elijah Allen, all average between 11.5 and 15.1 points per game. That trio has combined to attempt 56% of West Chester's shots on the season. Smith has scored in double figures in 11-straight games. Allen led West Chester with 19 points in the first meeting against Millersville. McGhee has hit double figures in 11 of his last 12 games and has two 20-point games in the month of February.
West Chester ranks fifth in the PSAC in scoring offense but 10th in field goal percentage and 14th in 3-point percentage. The Rams make up for their inefficiency with 13.4 offensive rebounds per game and a PSAC-best rebounding margin.

SERIES HISTORY

Over 119 years and 207 meetings, just three games separate Millersville (102) and West Chester (105) in the all-time series. The Marauders have won four in a row and five of the last six against the Golden Rams, but four of those games were played at home. Hollinger Fieldhouse has been unkind to the Marauders through the years. Millersville’s 73-72 win in the 2021-22 was its first win at West Chester since 2013. Since 1991, Millersville is 5-26 at West Chester. In last season’s win at West Chester, Millersville held the Golden Rams to 25% shooting in the first half and 36.2% for the game. In the seven previous games at West Chester, the Rams averaged 88.6 points per game. In Millersville’s last five wins in the series, West Chester has averaged 69.8 points per game.
The Last Meeting Millersville 79, West Chester 72 (1/25/2023): With the seniors providing a steadying performance, Millersville beat West Chester 79-72 its fourth consecutive victory. Mekhi Hendricks scored a season-high 18 points, and Justin Nwosu recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Millersville led for 37 of the game's 40 minutes and led by as many as 13, but West Chester's guards caught fire mid-way through the second half. Elijah Allen's eight points led a 21-6 West Chester run that put the Golden Rams in front 58-56 with eight minutes to play. Nwosu grabbed three rebounds and recorded a steal as part of a 9-0 Millersville run. The Marauders led by no fewer than four points the rest of the way.