MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The last time Millersville beat West Chester like this, Casey Stitzel's dad, Glenn, was coming off the bench as a sophomore for the 1966 club. Glenn was sitting opposite the Millersville bench Wednesday night, watching as the Marauders held PSAC East-leading West Chester without a field goal for the game's first 10 minutes and steamrolled to the finish for a convincing 91-55 win. 

Millersville has won six consecutive at home and seven of eight against the rival Golden Rams. West Chester entered Wednesday winners of 16 of the last 17, but Millersville dominated from the start. The Golden Rams missed their first 16 shots, finishing with their fewest first-half field goals (7) and largest loss of the season. It was the first time West Chester allowed more than 80 points in a game since Nov. 9. Millersville suffocated the Golden Rams in the half-court, holding the visitors to 28.8% shooting from the field and 2 of 14 from three. 

"Our effort was unbelievable tonight," said Stitzel. "We played hard, talked on defense and really followed the scouting report. We did a good job chasing (West Chester leading scorer Elijah Allen). We chased the guys we were supposed to chase off the hand-offs. We did a great job in the post knowing which hand they wanted to use. That's the way we can guard when we follow our scout, play with energy."

The Golden Rams built their first-place standing by leading the PSAC in both rebounding margin and offensive rebounding. But Millersville dominated the glass 45-22 and turned those rebounds into transition opportunities, scoring more than 90 points for the third consecutive home game. 

"Shout out to my assistants (Ryan Van Zelst and Kyle McGee)," said Stitzel. "I was sick and missed practice on Monday, and they gave the message early about hitting the glass. We didn't do 20 box-out drills; it's a mentality. West Chester might be plus-nine on the glass, but we are plus-five. We can rebound too. When teams crash the offensive glass like West Chester does, we can use that against them, and we can get out in transition."

With 9:49 remaining in the first half, Davante Dennis made West Chester's first shot, and Millersville led 19-7. The Marauders led by as many as 21 in the first half and took a 40-23 lead into the break. West Chester opened the second half on a 10-2 run, creeping to within nine points. Stitzel called a timeout with 16:48 to play, and the Marauders responded by making their next 10 shots, leaving the Golden Rams in the rear view. 

"We've struggled when teams punch," said Stitzel. "In the timeout, we reminded them that you aren't going to play a rival and the No. 1 team in the East and win by 40 without them making a run. We need to guard, rebound and take care of the ball. Any time they scored in the first half and early in the second, it was off our turnovers in transition. In the half-court, they struggled against us. They made their run, we needed to punch back. Teams are going to make a run in the league. We responded with defense, rebounding, finishing at the rim, the and-ones and hitting outside shots."

Immediately out of the timeout, Aiden Gair (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock) sank one of his five 3-pointers. Millersville did not miss another shot for more than six minutes. The stretch included three 3-pointers. Six players contributed to the run, and Jahme Ested paced the Marauders with seven, using his size to create shots in the paint. From out of the timeout to the 3:21 mark, Millersville out-scored West Chester 45-17, making 16 of 19 shots from the field and 9 of 11 free throws. 

Ested finished with 17 points, five rebounds and two steals, sharing team-high honors with Gair. Saraj Ali (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock) made all seven of his shots and totaled 16 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Montell Cooper, whose streak of 71 consecutive games scoring ended on Saturday at Lock Haven, responded with 12 points and five assists. Alec Topper scored 11 and led Millersville with nine rebounds. 

I thought Drew (Stover) and Jahme, and I've coached them as hard as anyone, their defense and energy were awesome," said Stitzel. "Guys made plays. Aiden made some huge shots. Aamir (Hurst) was great, Saraj was great, Topper was great, Dante (Weise) was good off the bench, Tobi (Ogunbare) gave good minutes against their bigs. The word is consistent. We can lose to anyone, and we can beat anyone when we are clicking and dealing with adversity."

UP NEXT
Millersville, now 12-8 (8-5) pulled closer to West Chester (16-4, 12-2) with eight division games remaining. Millersville is off until a Feb. 5 road trip to Shippensburg. Millersville plays two in a row on the road before closing with five of six at home.