EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. - Millersville men's basketball looked nearly invincible for the last month, but their seven-game winning streak came to a screeching halt Saturday at East Stroudsburg, 98-77. 

Never a friendly place to play, Kohler Fieldhouse continued to give Millersville trouble as the program is now one for its last 16 in the building. Saturday was the start of a daunting five-day stretch for the Marauders in which they played three teams tied or within one game of first place in the PSAC East. Millersville entered the day part of that first-place tie but struggled to find an offense in the half court after breaking ESU's press, and its half court defense was no better as ESU became Millersville's first opponent since Nov. 15 to shoot better than 50% from the field. The Warriors made 54.7% of their shots and went 9 of 19 from three. Millersville had not allowed more than 83 points in a regulation game all season, and the 98 points were the most allowed by a Marauder team in regulation since 2016--a season before Casey Stitzel took over the program. 

"We got into foul trouble in the first half and had to play different lineups that aren't used to playing long stretches together," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "That caused some miscommunication, and we start losing our mind and got away from the principles and the things we did well for the last month. You start hugging your guy on weak-side and not helping on the ball screen. The road speeds you up, especially when you play at team that tries to speed you up. Everyone started doing their own thing instead of sticking to what we worked on. You can't lose your mind in a game like that."

Jaden Faulkner fouled out with nearly seven minutes remaining but still scored 22 points, topping 20 for the third consecutive game. He made of 11 of 12 free throws and handed out a team-high four assists but also had a season-high eight turnovers, adding to Millersville's total of 21--the most since Dec. 30. Matt Dade scored 24 points and made all 10 of his free throws, but East Stroudsburg kept PSAC field goal percentage leader Drew Stover scoreless on three shots, and Stover played just 20 minutes before picking up five fouls. 

"Everything on offense got sped up," said Stitzel. "When you get sped up you don't screen as well or wait for the screen. And Coach (Herb) Magee told me a long time ago that you just have to make some shots. If we get one of two open shots to go in, then you feel like you are back in the game, but what would happen is that we'd miss and they'd make. When you play a 28-game season you are going to have games like that."

After jumping out to an early 7-2 advantage, Millersville made just one of its next nine shots and committed five turnovers over a seven-minute span that saw the Warriors rip off a 22-5 run. That one stretch put Millersville at an insurmountable deficit. The Marauders trailed by 10 at halftime and pulled within 55-47 early in the second half, but ESU responded by making five of its next seven shots while Millersville went 1 for 4 from the field and 0 of 3 from the line. A 13-2 Warriors run ballooned the lead to 19 with 11 minutes to play, and ESU pushed it to as many as 21 before the buzzer. 

"These are the losses that make you better," said Stitzel. "It's a great life lesson and teaching opportunity when you can face adversity and come back from it. We haven't had much adversity in the last month. This was one of those games--a perfect storm after winning seven in a row. You have to look at the bigger picture and understand that we won't pay like that all the time and use it grow up and better understand how to deal with adversity. Learn from it and get better when things don't your way. The X's and O's things can be fixed."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• East Stroudsburg's Lakeem McAliley scored 25 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the field, 2 of 3 shooting from three and 7 of 7 shooting from the free throw line. Five Warriors scored in double figures. 
• Day Waters was the third Marauder to reach double-figures in scoring, totaling 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting. He made 4 of 6 from three. 
• East Stroudsburg held a slight 36-35 edge on the glass, but the Warriors turned 11 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.
• One game after scoring 60 points in the paint, Millersville managed just 32 and was out-scored by 14 inside. 

GAME NOTES

• Millersville is now 1-2 against nationally ranked teams this season. 
• Faulkner passed former teammate Caden Najdawi '22 for 27th in career scoring with 1,262 points and now trails another former teammate, Justin Nwosu '23, by 13. Faulkner also moved into a tie with Mike Monroe '91 for fifth in career assists with 409. 
• Dade scored at least 20 points for the fifth time in eight games. 

UP NEXT

• Millersville is faced with another challenging road game Monday night at West Chester. Millersville has won just two of its last 15 games at West Chester.