SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Millersville knew Wednesday's game at Shepherd wouldn't be easy. Games in Shepherdstown for the Marauders never are. But after trading buzzer-beaters at the end of regulation and in overtime, the Marauders escaped with an 87-83 double-overtime victory. 

Millersville (19-4, 14-3 PSAC) earned its first win at Shepherd since 1990, and it took clutch buckets and timely defensive stops in the second overtime. The Marauders first went coast-to-coast off of a missed free throw in the final seven six seconds of regulation with Drew Stover's lay-up off a pass from Jaden Faulkner tying the game at 77 with 0.7 second to go. Then Faulkner, who led the Marauders with 23 points, knocked down a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining in the first OT for a momentary two-point lead. Shepherd's Dan MClain-Corley banked in a turnaround, fade-away jumper to extend the game an extra five minutes, but double OT belonged to the Marauders as they out-scored the Rams 8-4 with Matt Dade sealing the win by sinking both ends of a 1-and-1 in the final seconds. 

"That's a mental toughness game," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "We had multiple guys out sick, and in double overtime, guys were exhausted. But we had to get stops at the end, and we did. That's a gut-check win, and a win when you look back on your season is as big as any."

Millersville had lost five in a row in Shepherdstown with plenty of heart-breakers along the way. Last season, Millersville mustered just 50 points in its loss, and two years ago, before Millersville went on to win the PSAC East, Shepherd pulled off a shocker by sinking 65% of its shots in a blowout. Wednesday's games had all the similar trappings of another upset as Shepherd poured in 12 3-pointers, and 19 points off of second-chance opportunities despite being out-rebounded by nine. Millersville committed an uncharacteristically high 11 turnovers in the first half that kept Shepherd close, and the Rams received an epic, career-high 29 points from Carson Poffenberger. He made five threes--two in overtime--despite entering the game as a 31% shooter from deep. The Stover and Faulkner buckets, and late-game defensive stands were more than winning plays according to Stitzel. 

"I don't think we win this game if it had been played in the first semester," said Stitzel. "When you have good culture, trust, and a family atmosphere, it wills you. It was a great team win. Everyone contributed. It wasn't pretty, but we played great defense at the end of overtime." 

Shepherd, a team that leads the PSAC in scoring defense but ranks last in scoring offense, has a way of making every game a grind, and the Marauders experienced that for the full 50 minutes. Millersville led for all of four minutes in regulation and trailed by as many as eight in the first half. Shepherd's end-of-the-shot-clock shot-making kept the Marauders playing from behind. Dade gave the Marauders a rare advantage with 1:18 to play, but Poffenberger launched in a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left for a 66-65 Shepherd lead. Millersville spent the final stretch of the second half playing through Stover in the post, and in the closing seconds, he found Jahme Ested for an open corner three that missed. Poffenberger was fouled on the rebound and had a chance to give the Rams a three-point lead at the line. Poffenberger made the first but missed the second.

With 6.7 on the clock, Dade pushed the ball quickly ahead off the rebound. Dade found Faulkner at mid-court, and Faulkner drove hard to the left before lofting the ball to Stover, who quickly kissed a shot off the glass with under a second remaining. 

"Originally, we were going to call timeout," said Stitzel. "I saw us on the run with six seconds left, and I'm a big believer when you have the defense scrambling to play it out. Jaden made a great pass to Drew. That's a tricky spot. It's not something you can draw up."
 
In overtime, Poffenberger made two more 3-pointers, and Shepherd made 4 of 5 shots, but Millersville continued to rally behind Stover and Faulkner. Stover answered Shepherd buckets twice, and Faulkner made a pair of threes, none bigger than the one with seven seconds to go from the top of the key. That shot was in response to Poffenberger's triple that put the Marauders down, 77-76. 

"Jaden has been through it all," said Stitzel. "He didn't shoot the ball great from three tonight, but he has ice in his veins, and he's made big time plays in big games. At the end of the day, if he feels like he can make that play, we have confidence in him. He made some great plays for us in overtime for us."

Millersville defended Shepherd's final possession to near perfection, but McClain-Corley banked in his a well-contested fade-away as the buzzer sounded. That bought Shepherd an extra five minutes, but Millersville put an end to Shepherd's magic. 

After playing catch-up throughout the game, Ested and Faulkner scored on drives on Millersville's first two possessions of double overtime, and the Marauders stayed in front the rest of the way. McClain-Corley pulled Shepherd to within 85-83 with 21 seconds left, but Millersville easily broke the Rams' full-court press. Dade was fouled to stop the clock with 13 seconds to play, and he delivered from the line for a four-point Millersville advantage. 

"We kept sticking with the plan and iced the game at the end. We executed well down the stretch," said Stitzel.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Millersville, a team that averages 25 free throw attempts per game, did not get a trip to the line until there was just over six minutes remaining in the second half when Day Waters was fouled on a 3-pointer attempt. Millersville finished with just nine attempts, five of which were taken by Waters. 
• Five Marauders scored in double-figures for the fifth consecutive game. Faulkner made 10 of 21 shots and 3 of 8 from three. Waters made 5 of 7 shots and 2 of 3 from three for 15. Stover made his first eight shots and finished 8 for 10 for 16. Dade recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards. Ested added 10 points and four assists. 
• Millersville topped 50% shooting for the fifth game in a row. It is the first time since 1993 that a Millersville team has scored 80 or more in five consecutive PSAC East games. 

GAME NOTES

• Millersville improves to 1-1 in overtime games this season. Wednesday marked Millersville's first double-overtime game since Feb. 22, 2023, first overtime win since Feb. 12, 2022 (at Mansfield), and its first double-overtime win since beating Virginia Union on Nov. 29, 2021. 
• Millersville's win, paired with Lock Haven's win over East Stroudsburg, puts the Marauders in a three-way tie for first place in the PSAC East. 
• Millersville has won three consecutive games over Shepherd, but the teams have evenly split the last 12 meetings. Six of those games were decided by seven points or fewer. 

UP NEXT

• Millersville puts its five-game winning streak on the line against Mansfield at home on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Marauders are 12-1 in Pucillo Gymnasium this season.