ABOUT THE GAME

• Regular season games don’t get much bigger than Saturday’s battle between Millersville and East Stroudsburg. It is Senior Day for Matt Dade and Jaden Faulkner, Alumni Day, and the Marauders and Warriors are tied for first place in the PSAC East, both boasting 16-3 league records. Both teams were included in the NCAA committee’s first regional rankings released on Wednesday as well. East Stroudsburg is ranked No. 15 in the NABC Coaches Poll, and Millersville received votes for the first time this season. It is the first game between two 20-win teams to take place inside Pucillo Gymnasium since the 1993 NCAA Tournament game between 24-6 Millersville and 30-1 Philadelphia Textile (now Jefferson University). Millersville is one win away from setting a program record for PSAC wins in a season. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• Millersville recognizes two highly-successful seniors Saturday in Dade and Faulkner. Dade has averaged 15.2 points per game and started all 52 games in his two seasons as a Marauder. He’s totaled 1,312 points and is trending toward leading the Marauders in scoring in back-to-back seasons. Faulkner, who was named PSAC East Athlete of the Week for the sixth time in his career on Monday, ranks 19th all-time in scoring (1,409), fifth in assists (448), ninth in steals (142) and ninth in free throws (384). His 4.9 career assist average ranks second in program history and eighth among active Division II players. He is one of only four players in program history with 1,400 points and 400 assists. The other three--Frank Oslislo ’66, Andrew Marshall ’87 and Charlie Parker ’08--are in the Millersville Athletics Hall of Fame. 
• The current winning streak has seen the Marauders score 81 or more in seven consecutive PSAC East games for the first time in program history. Millersville has won 14 of its last 15, topping 90 points in half of those games and shooting 50% or better 10 times. A big reason for the efficiency has been Drew Stover’s 72% shooting (74.4% in the last 15 games). He could become just the fifth player in the history of the PSAC to shoot over 70% in a season and is on his way to breaking John Fox’s school record. Stover ranks second in DII. Day Waters has hit five threes in back-to-back games and now leads the PSAC in 3-point shooting. Waters’ 45.5% currently ranks ninth all-time and the best by a Marauder since Kevin Cuff in 2004-05. 
   

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

• East Stroudsburg ranks second in the PSAC in scoring offense, averaging 89.9 points per game. The Warriors rank one spot behind Millersville in team field goal percentage and scoring defense, but they rank third in field goal percentage defense (.427) and lead the league in 3-point defense (.291) and are second in turnovers forced (20.2). That makes for a strength-on-strength match-up as Millersville ranks in the top four in field goal percentage (.496), 3-point shooting (.371) and assist/turnover ratio (1,16). East Stroudsburg (26.4) and Millersville (25.3) rank second and third respectively in free throws attempted per game. Lakeem McAliley leads ESU in both scoring (17.7) and rebounding (6.1) and ranks fourth in the PSAC in field goal percentage at .557. Justin Paz averages 4.1 assists per game and rarely turns it over, boasting a league-best 3.6 assist/turnover ratio. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday is the 171st all-time meeting between Millersville and East Stroudsburg. East Stroudsburg has won 24 of the last 30 meetings dating back to 2009, but holds just a 4-3 edge over the last seven games, including the 98-77 win earlier this season. That remains the only game that Millersville has lost against a PSAC East team. While Millersville has had little success at ESU in recent years, they have won two of the last three at Pucillo Gymnasium and are 27-12 at home since 1984. ESU won 86-75 in its last trip to Pucillo Gymnasium (2023). Drew Stover scored 22 points in that game. In the first meeting of this season, Matt Dade scored 24 and Jaden Faulkner scored 22, but Millersville committed 22 turnovers and shot 26.3% from three while ESU shot 54.7% from the field and made 9 of 19 threes. Stover attempted a season-low three shots and went scoreless. Lakeem McAliley led ESU with 25. Millersville has held ESU to 79 points or fewer in each of its last three wins.