Dante Weise scored a career-high 20 points and added seven rebounds and six assists, lifting the Millersville men's basketball team to a much-needed, 88-74 win over previously unbeaten Jefferson Saturday at Pucillo Gymnasium. 

On the heels of back-to-back heartbreaking losses and playing without second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Saraj Ali, the Marauders needed a performance like the one Weise provided. With Ali out, Jefferson put its full defensive attention on Day Waters, the PSAC's leading scorer, and Weise took advantage, hurting the Rams with one-on-one drives in the paint where he finished at the rim, found teammates when the help defense rotated and sank all eight of his free throws down the stretch. 

"When Dante is aggressive and makes his foul shots, you feel good with him out there being steady with the ball," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "Him making those foul shots was huge. He almost had a triple-double. That's the type of game we recruited him for. They were pressuring him out top. I thought they were really worried about Day and our shooters. They wanted to make him score, and he did. Today was the first time in a while where instead of passing, he decided to score the ball. Credit to him and our guys for rallying with a guy down."

Millersville struggled to close out leads in the previous two games, but that wasn't the case against Jefferson, and Weise played a key role in keeping the Marauders in front. With 5:16 remaining, Brendan Mykalcio made one of two free throws to pull the Rams to within one at 73-72. After a Millersville miss, Weise grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. He hit both foul shots. Following a Jefferson turnover, Weise hit a mid-range jumper and then picked the pocket of Matt McCool for a steal. That turned into two Waters free throws. Following another defensive stop, Weise scored on a drive again, then secured a defensive rebound at the other end. The Marauders closed the game on a 15-2 run, sinking 11 of 12 free throws as the Rams tried to extend the game. Weise scored 10 of those points and made the team's only two field goals. Defensively, the Marauders held Jefferson to 0 of 5 shooting and three turnovers in the final five minutes. 

"We finally guarded, rebounded and won the turnover battle," said Stitzel. "If we do those three things, we are tough to beat. We did a great job of making Jefferson score at the rim. We did a great job making foul shots and taking care of the ball. We ran offense and were patient. Wednesday's loss was a wake-up call with the way we executed down the stretch. They really made the adjustments. If you play four cupcakes and win each game by 20 you won't know what your weaknesses are. Now we know, and we have been able to work on them already."

Millersville trailed 37-35 at the half after shooting 38.9% from the field and going 2 of 13 from three, but it outscored Jefferson 53-37 in the second half, hitting 60 percentage of its shots and sinking 25 of 29 free throws. 

Saturday marked the first time that Weise has scored in double-figures in 35 games as a Marauder. Waters entered the game averaging over 24 points per game and was limited to 14 on 3 of 11 shooting. Aamir Hurst added 16 points, and Malcolm Dread sank 3 of 6 3-pointer attempts for a career-high 11 points. It was the first time this season that Millersville has had four players score in double-figures. Amir Cunningham received his first start as a Marauder, logging a season-high 16 minutes and scoring five points. 

"We've already had a lot of adversity this year," said Stitzel. "We had two games I thought we should have won but gave away by not playing fundamental basketball. We are playing all good teams. What it has done for us is that we are battle tested now. We've had a little adversity and a little success. Before PSAC games, you want to have played good teams and be ready to play good teams on the road and at home. In these first four games, a couple of bounces either way and maybe we are 4-0, but this helps our strength of schedule and the adversity we've hit and overcome, we've gotten guys to step up and play winning basketball."

Stitzel now owns two of Millersville's three all-time wins against Jefferson. After going 1-9 against Jefferson from 1962-2019, Millersville has two of the last three games, including two in a row at home. 

UP NEXT
Millersville hosts Wilson College on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m.