MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Desperation hustle created a second chance opportunity, and Day Waters' 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining in regulation spared the Marauders from upset-minded Mansfield Saturday in Pucillo Gymnasium. Millersville won 98-91 for its sixth consecutive win but needed overtime for the second game in a row to extend that streak. 

Mansfield, now 7-17, gave the 20-4 Marauders all they could handle on a court where Millersville is 13-1. Mansfield led by nine in the first half, grabbing nine offensive rebounds and turning over the Marauders eight times. But Millersville rallied with improved effort on the glass, behind a monster final 25 minutes from Drew Stover and the lights-out 3-point shooting of Waters in crunch time.

Stover made 10 of 11 shots, finishing with 22 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. 15 of those points and 12 of those rebounds came after halftime. His seven offensive rebounds played a key role in keeping the Marauders afloat, particularly in the closing moments of regulation. Waters scored 10 of his 16 points in the final five and a half minutes of gameplay, sinking all three of his threes. 

"It's a tough time of the year, keeping kids focused for a long regular season when you've been winning and now trying to sweep teams," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "We have a bunch of guys banged up and four or five guys with the flu out there. It's that time of the year when there is a ton of adversity. It takes a lot of toughness to grind out these games. What we have to do better is be focused to start the game. We lacked that sense of urgency. That Shepherd game (Wednesday night) took a lot out of us, but we need to have maturity to not lack focus...We caught a break today with Day's shot. Hopefully, that's a wake-up call and we learn from it."

Mansfield's Michael Dickson, who scored 25 points to lead all scorers, scored eight points in the final 2:30 of regulation, and his three followed by a runner put his team up 76-73 with 44 seconds left in the second half. With 30 seconds remaining, Jahme Ested hoisted an open 3-pointer from the left wing, and chaos ensued on the long rebound. Stover kept the possession alive with a tap out that Mansfield Saraj Ali momentarily corralled. Jaden Faulkner, however, immediately poked the ball free into the hands of Stover, who pivoted and fired a pass to the wide-open Waters on the left wing. Waters' swish tied the game. It was then up to the Millersville defense to get a stop--something it hadn't done much in the closing minutes as Mansfield scored 12 points in the previous seven possessions. 

"That's the basketball gods," said Stitzel. "I think they reward teams with the right culture and reward coaching staffs that do the right things and have good kids."

Out of a timeout, Mansfield put the ball in Dickson's hands at the top of the key. Waters and Matt Dade doubled Dickson off a ball screen, and as time ticked away, Dickson hoisted a turnaround jumper from just inside the 3-point line that clanged off the iron. 

"We changed our coverage up a little bit to make sure they didn't get the pick-and-pop," said Stitzel. "We hedged the ball screen a little. They tried to get (Dickson) in space. They ran a ghost screen, and it almost got us, but we did a good job recovering from it."

Millersville dominated the overtime period, scoring 22 points, making 5 of 6 shots from the field and 10 of 14 free throws. After his 3-pointer to end regulation, Waters opened the extra session with a tie-breaking triple. Dade scored, Faulkner drove for two twice, and Waters drained another three to give Millersville an eight-point lead with just over two minutes to play. The rest of Millersville's offensive damage was done at the line as Mansfield scrambled to close the gap. 

"It comes down to playing harder," said Stitzel. "The effort was better as soon as we got into overtime. Mansfield had a hard time moving in the half-court, and we were able to get out in transition where we are tough to guard. To Mansfield's credit, they came in here like it was their national championship game, ready to play. When you are 20-4 and regionally ranked, you have a bullseye on you. Kutztown will have that on us Wednesday. We have to understand that teams play up and we have to stay focused. I'm anxious to see how we respond on the road Wednesday."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• For the first time this season, three Marauders scored 20 or more points in the same game. In addition to Stover, Dade scored 22, and Faulkner led the team with 24. Faulkner also added six assists and six rebounds. 
• Stover, the PSAC leader in blocked shots, swatted four. Ested set a career-high with three blocks. Dade's two blocks matched a career-high. Millersville's 10 blocks as a team were a season-high. 

MORE FROM STITZEL

• It's hard to stay focused for 28 games. That's at every level. You have let-down games. We just have to keep maturing with staying focused. They know the gauntlet is coming up, but we have to respect every opponent and play Millersville basketball. The team that doesn't reach their goals in our league is the team that loses focus in the last two weeks."

GAME NOTES

• Millersville last played back-to-back overtime games in Faulkner's freshman season of 2018-19. It is the first time since road wins over Kutztown and Cal U in January 2002 that Millersville has won back-to-back overtime games. 
• Millersville is now 2-1 in overtime this season and has 12 consecutive wins over Mansfield. 
• The last time Millersville scored 80 or more points in six straight PSAC East wins was in 1989. 

UP NEXT

• Millersville travels to Kutztown on Wednesday, Feb. 21 before hosting nationally ranked East Stroudsburg on Saturday, Feb. 24.