CALIFORNIA, Pa. - Millersville men's basketball presented fourth-ranked California (Pa.) with its toughest test of the season, but after matching the homestanding Vulcans bucket-for-bucket for much of the game, the Marauders' offense went cold late, allowing Cal to escape with an 85-76 win. 

Millersville's (4-2), 0-1) two losses have been short-handed, on the road, to undefeated teams by 10 total points. The Marauders led Cal 63-57 with just over 13 minutes to play but struggled to knock down shots in the half-court. After falling behind by six, Cal surged in front with a 10-3 run over the next four minutes. With the Marauders suddenly ice-cold, Cal stretched its advantage, outscoring them 28-16 in the last 13 minutes, during which time Millersville shot 7 of 21 from the field. 

"We missed way too many lay-ups," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "We only had 13 turnovers but those were very timely. When we went up six or were up one or down one, we either didn't get the defensive rebound, didn't finish a bunny, or had a turnover."

Millersville shot 51.6% from the field in the first half, scoring 47 points, but gave up 50 as Cal shot 54.8. Cal shot just 29.6% from the field in the second half, but did damage at the free throw line, hitting 18 of 22, while Millersville went 0 of 10 from three and reached the stripe just four times. 
 
"We have to put two halves together," said Stitzel. "The first we didn't guard but were great on offense. In the second half, we guarded better but missed too many bunnies. You have to put two halves together to beat good teams on the road, and that's what we are missing right."

Aamir Hurst, starting for senior point guard Jahme Ested, who also missed the loss at Jefferson, made his first four 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 18 points and four assists. He was one of five Marauders in double figures, with Drew Stover scoring 17, Saraj Ali scoring 15, Montell Cooper totaling 11, and Aiden Gair scoring 10 to go with four assists. 

Millersville has now played without a starter in three consecutive games. The absence of Ested was notable as Cooper and Hurst had to play out of position at point guard without him available. Hurst in particular gave the Marauders a needed lift. 

"Aamir was great in the first half," said Stitzel. "He's learning his way and learning what a winning player is. He has a great attitude and works hard. These opportunities will be good for him when we get healthy. We have to experience failure in the short term for long-term gain. We never play our best basketball in November and December. We have to get healthy and continue to get experience with each other. We'll stay together and get stronger, tougher, and better through it."

The back-and-forth game featured nine ties and 12 lead changes. Before the final minute, neither team led by more than six points. 

"There are five to 10 plays in these games if you make half of them, you win by three to five. We felt like we were really finding our rhythm and rotations after the game at Goldey-Beacom. Not being healthy has slowed that down, and it's tougher with a new team."

Cal U remains the only undefeated team in the 17-team PSAC at 6-0 (1-0). They had won their first two home games by an average of 26 points. 

UP NEXT
Millersville travels to Slippery Rock on Saturday to finish its PSAC West road trip. Slippery Rock fell to West Chester, 81-64 Friday night.