ERIE, Pa. - When it comes to Millersville and Gannon this season, home court makes all the difference. Three months after the Marauders blasted the Golden Knights by 21 at Pucillo Gymnasium, Gannon took advantage of familiar surroundings, shot 61% from the floor, and advanced to the PSAC Championship game by eliminating the Marauders, 98-64. 

While seemingly everything fell for Gannon (28-2), little went the Marauders' (25-6) way. Gannon made its first seven 3-pointers, including five before the first media timeout. Millersville, usually balanced and efficient, shot 32.8% from the field, made just 6 of 27 from three, and at halftime, only four Marauders had scored. It was the first time since Dec. 19 that Millersville shot under 42% from the field. 

"I don't like saying, 'it's one of those games,'" said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "There are two opponents right now, especially when we are on the road against a good team. There is us not beating ourselves and then having to beat Gannon. Yes, they made some tough shots, but a lot of it was self-inflicted. Right now, we are a completely different team on the road. If you flip this game, and put it in Pucillo, who knows? We are really struggling with communicating on defense and with adversity on the road. We don't have the same confidence on the road. If you want to go anywhere in this conference and this region, you have to win on the road."

Matt Dade scored 23 points and eight rebounds, and Drew Stover added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Dade was the only Marauder to attempt a foul shot until Jaden Faulkner drew two shots with 12:57 remaining in the second half. While Dade and Drew Stover combined for 12 of 21 shooting, the rest of the team made just seven shots. Millersville could not take full advantage of the size advantage inside. When Gannon sent double teams, the Marauders continually missed open shots on kick-outs. J.D. Gross made two 3-pointers in the first half, but after Gross' second with 11:34 remaining in the first, Millersville missed its next 16. 

"They packed the paint," said Stitzel. "We've shot it well from three this year and then have a game like this. We were wide open on those looks, even when the game was out of reach. We missed shots, they made shots. It was a little bit of everything today."

Gannon started the game by making threes on four of their five possessions, and there was little Millersville could do to close the gap. The lead reached double-digits before four minutes ticked off the clock, and the Marauders were never closer than seven the rest of the way. In the words of Stitzel, the "script flipped" in comparison to the first time the teams played. On Dec. 30 at Millersville, the Marauders raced to a 14-0 lead and shot 66% from the field, leading by 24 at the half. 

"It was just a change of the script from the first time we played," said Stitzel. "We made every shot to start at home, they made every shot to start here. They couldn't make shots at Pucillo, we couldn't make shots here. I knew it was going to be a tough game because it's tough to be a team like that twice, especially on their home court. I did think we'd play better than we did. We didn't do anything well today. It's tough to win like that."

MORE FROM STITZEL

• On preparing for the NCAA Tournament: "At the end of the day, if the worst thing that happens to you is losing a PSAC Tournament game to Gannon by 40, you are living a very good life. It's an opportunity to get better with adversity, to learn from adversity. At the end of the day, it's all about how we approach the week. We can be thrilled to be in the NCAA Tournament and have another chance to play, and maybe have another chance to play Gannon, or this loss will stay all next week and we won't have that same path. I like to think we take route one, and if we do, we can play a lot better than this. You don't want to end your season playing like this. You want to be able to bounce back. I'm sure I'm speaking for the team in saying we don't want to have this bad taste in our mouth because that's not Millersville basketball."

GAME NOTES

• Saturday was the first-ever PSAC Tournament meeting between Millersville and Gannon, but Gannon is now 5-1 all-time in postseason match-ups. Millersville is now 4-12 in PSAC Tournament road games with six consecutive losses. 
• Millersville was ranked No. 5 in the latest NCAA Atlantic Region rankings, and that was before Wednesday's win over No. 6 East Stroudsburg. The Marauders will most certainly receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but have to wait until Sunday at 11 p.m., to find out seeding and site. Gannon was ranked No. 1 on Wednesday. 

UP NEXT

• The NCAA Regional is set for March 16-19.