ABOUT THE GAME

•  Millersville earned its third win over a nationally ranked opponent to advance to the PSAC Semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons. The Marauders, ranked No. 24 in the D2CSC poll and unranked in the NABC poll, draws PSAC West and No. 3-ranked Gannon, which is 27-2. Millersville is responsible for one of those two Gannon losses, as they beat the Golden Knights 99-78 at home on Dec. 30. Those 78 points are still the fewest Gannon has scored all season. Gannon, however, is 16-0 at home and has won 16 in a row. Since the Dec. 30 win, Millersville is 17-2 with its only loss coming on the road to teams it shared the PSAC East title with. Gannon averages 105.6 points per game, shooting 50.3% and forcing nearly 24 turnovers per game at home. Millersville is only slightly less efficient on the road, averaging 81.3 points (83.4 at home) on 49.4% shooting (.502 at home). 
• Millersville earned a No. 2 seed with a share of its 12th PSAC East title, including second in the last three years. Millersville has won five PSAC Tournaments but its last came in 2007. Millersville is 4-5 in the tournament under Casey Stitzel and 0-2 in true road games. All-time, Millersville is 4-11 in true road games in the PSAC Tournament and has lost five in a row. Millersville’s last road tournament win came in the 2014 first round. However, Millersville is 9-4 all-time in semifinal games, including a win over Mercyhurst in 2022. Millersville has not played a road game in the PSAC Semifinals since a 62-60 loss at Cheyney in 1986. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• The All-PSAC honors were announced on Thursday with Millersville earning three spots. Both Jaden Faulkner and Matt Dade were named All-PSAC East for the third time, and both earned their second first team selection. Drew Stover was a second team selection for the first time. It is the third time in four years that Millersville has produced three or more All-PSAC East honorees. While Dade picked up his first while at West Chester, he is the first Marauder forward to earn two first team honors since hall of famer Jamal Palmer (1997-99). Faulkner is one of 15 players in program history recognized three times. 
• All three players have made their way into the record books. Stover is on his way to breaking a school record for field goal percentage, which has stood since 1985. At 71.9%, he ranks second nationally and looking to be just the fifth player in PSAC history to shoot over 70% for a season. Dade can be just the fourth player in program history (and first since 1993) to average over 18 points per game while shooting at least 54% from the field. Faulkner is tracking toward being the first Marauder ever to average 16.0 points and 5.0 assists in a season. Dade has 1,386 points, one point behind hall of famer Butch Cleaver ’71 for 20th all-time. Faulkner ranks 15th in career scoring with 1,453 points and is ninth in steals (143), and third in assists (461). His 4.9 assists average ranks second all-time. 
• Millersville is averaging its most points per game and shooting its highest percentage since 1993 and posting its best 3-point shooting percentage since 2003. Millersville is 17-1 when scoring at least 80 points and 16-0 when hitting that mark in regulation. Millersville is also 20-0 when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent. While the offense has been outstanding, defense is imperative. The Marauders are 3-3 and 1-2 vs. PSAC teams when allowing 50% shooting and 4-5 when shooting a lower percentage. Millersville is just 7-4 when allowing more than 80 points. Rebounding is also important as Millersville is 16-0 when out-rebound its opponent. 
   

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS

• Gannon leads Division II in scoring at 103.3 points per game and rank second in turnovers forced, behind only defending NCAA champ Nova Southeastern, who is coached by Jordan Fee's mentor, Jim Crutchfield. The system features a relentless full-court press and an up-tempo offense that leans heavily into the 3-point shot. Gannon has made more threes that any other team in the PSAC and has attempted 733 compared to Millersville's 462 attempts. The attacking style has gotten Gannon to the free throw line 815 times--the most in the PSAC.  Gannon owns a 9.66 turnover margin. Only one other PSAC team is better than 2.11. 
• Despite averaging 103 points per game, only three Gannon players average in double figures. Josh Omojafo leads the team with 19.7 per game. Nine players average at least 7.1 points per game. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Gannon holds a 12-8 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1985-86. It’s been far more even since Gannon joined the PSAC in 2008-09 with the teams split with five wins apiece. Millersville has won its last two games and three and five of the last seven against Gannon and is 2-2 in its last four trips to Erie.  In the five trips to Erie since 2011, Millersville has averaged 63.0 points per game with a high of 75 in 2015. Millersville and Gannon have never played in the PSAC Tournament, but the teams do have postseason history with NCAA Tournament games in 1986, 1987, 1994 and 1995. Gannon went 4-1 in those match-ups with three wins in Erie. 
• In the first meeting of the season, Millersville stunned the then 10-0 Golden Knights by jumping out to a 49-25 halftime lead. Gannon shot just 31% and made 2 of 11 3-pointers in the first half. Millersville shot 66% for the game and drilled 8 of 12 threes. Dade scored 34 and Day Waters made 4 of 5 3-pointers for 20 points. Millersville did commit 26 turnovers in the game, which Gannon turned into 29 points. Gannon out-scored the Marauders 53-50 in the second half. Zach Hobbs led Gannon with 20 points.