BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - Millersville walked into halftime down one thinking it couldn't get much worse on the offensive end. It did. It got much worse. The Marauders missed their first 10 shots of the second half and could not recover, falling 78-71 at Bloomsburg

Bloomsburg entered the game 2-12 with nine losses in its previous 10 games and had a 28-point loss at Shippensburg on Monday night. Millersville entered with back-to-back wins and was coming off a 98-point performance on Friday. 

"We haven't figured out that we are a lot of teams' biggest game," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "Bloomsburg played harder tonight than I've seen them play on film all year. We have to understand that with our past success, we will get teams' best shot. There will be shots that didn't go in other games go in. There will be bounces that don't go your way. We have to understand the energy level it takes to be up for every opponent and accept the responsibility that we are getting their best game."

Millersville shot 0 of 7 from three in the first 20 minutes while Bloomsburg made 15 of its first 23 shots. Still, Millersville trailed just 38-37 at the break. 

The first five minutes of the second half decided the game, however. Millersville didn't make a shot from the field until the 14:18 mark, going scoreless for more than four minutes before Aiden Gair made the team's first 3-pointer of the game. Jahme Ested, who missed his first 14 shots, finally got a fastbreak lay-up to go down, and Millersville trailed just 48-44 despite the offensive woes. But the Marauders missed their next six shots and fell behind by 13 points. They eventually crept within four with 37 seconds left, but Bloomsburg got a transition bucket by breaking Millersville's press. That sealed the Marauders' fate. 

"It's more than (the offense)," said Stitzel. "I didn't love our shoot-around today. I think we looked at (Bloomsburg's) scores and didn't have that instinct we've had the last two games. It is two road games in a row where we haven't had pep to our step. That's one of the worst games we've played since we've gotten good here. It was everyone: defense, rebounding, shooting, we didn't talk. It was a disappointing effort."

Drew Stover finished with a game-high 21 points but scored 19 in the first half and didn't score again until there was 1:33 remaining in the game. Ested and Gair combined to shoot 4 of 30 and 2 of 16 from three. The Marauders shot 33.3% from the field in the second half and 12 of their 34 second-half points came in the final 1:33 as they scrambled from behind. 

"We played too much hero ball with the guards, and the posts weren't expressive enough to get the ball," said Stitzel. "It wasn't a good effort. It's not the team I've seen at practice. Starting with me we've got to get better."

Millersville is now 2-4 on the road and has lost four of their last five road games. All six of the team's losses have been by nine points or fewer. Since starting 3-0, it's been an up-and-down road for the Marauders. 

"I have to find a way to fix the inconsistency," said Stitzel. "In this league on the road, sometimes you just have to be solid. We got away from what we've done (winning) the last two games and have to get back to it." 

Millersville scored 34 points off of Bloomsburg's 21 turnovers, but managed 12 points off of 17 offensive rebounds. Saraj Ali totaled 20 points and made 8 of 9 free throws. Montell Cooper chipped in 10 points. 

UP NEXT
Wednesday was just the start of a four-game road trip for the Marauders. It continues Jan. 11 at Shepherd.