ABOUT THE GAME

• Millersville and Lock Haven meet in the PSAC Tournament for the fourth time in the 11 seasons on Monday. It is the sixth all-time postseason meeting between the teams, and all six have been opening-round match-ups. Millersville is 4-1 in the playoffs against Lock Haven, but the Bald Eagles claimed the last match-up in 2023. 
• Millersville is hosting a postseason game for the sixth time under Coach Casey Stitzel, and it is the fourth consecutive season with a home playoff game. That is the longest streak for Millersville since 1993-96. Stitzel is 2-5 in the first game of the PSAC Tournament but is 3-3 in the tournament over the last three seasons. The Marauders reached the PSAC Championship in 2022, received a first-round bye in 2024 and advanced to the semifinals. Since the field expanded beyond four teams in 1996, Millersville is 9-10 in its first game of the tournament and has advanced to the championship four times (2003, 2005, 2007, 2022). Since the PSAC Tournament began in 1984, Millersville has played for the championship nine times, winning it in 1987, 1989, 1993, 2003, and 2007. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• Millersville has had an odd season, entering the playoffs as the No. 4 seed in the East with 11 losses but ranking third in the entire 17-team PSAC in margin of victory (8.8). Ten of the team's 11 losses have come by single digits, and Millersville is 3-10 in games decided by fewer than 10 points. Millersville leads the PSAC in field goal percentage (.492) and aims to become the first Millersville team since 2004-05 to do so. That Millersville team reached the PSAC title game. Millersville is also the only team in the PSAC to rank in the top five of both scoring offense and scoring defense. 
• Millersville averages 87.6 points per game, shooting 51.9% from the field and 33.7% from three while allowing 68.4 points per game, 41.0% shooting and 29.0% shooting from three in the 17 wins. Millersville also averages 17.2 assists per win. That stands in stark contrast to its 11 losses as it averages 73.5 points on 44.7% shooting, 26.5% shooting from three and 13.5 assists while allowing 81.0 points on a .485/.388 shooting split with opponents racking up 15.3 assists. Drew Stover averages 19.2 points on 73.7% shooting in wins compared to 14.6 points on 56.8% shooting in losses. 
• Saturday's loss was only the third at home for Millersville all season, the first in regulation, and the first since Dec. 6, snapping a streak of nine-straight wins at home. The 68 points were the fewest scored at home all season and an aberration considering that Millersville averages 87.1 points per game on 52.3% shooting in 15 home games. 
• The keys for Millersville are offensive efficiency, sharing the ball on offense, rebounding and field goal percentage defense. The Marauders are 13-2 when shooting better than 49% from the field. The Marauders are also 9-2 when grabbing 40 or more rebounds, 16-4 when totaling 15 or more assists and 14-4 when holding teams to under 47% shooting. 
• Stover, currently ranked eight in the PSAC in scoring (17.4), and on track to break John Fox's long-standing school record for field goal percentage, is closing in on a second consecutive season leading the PSAC in field goal percentage and blocked shots. His .675 mark is narrowly above Edinboro's Evran Cenker, who owns a .674 percentage. Cenker also plays in Monday's first round. Stover is tied for the PSAC lead in blocked shots with Seton Hill's Edir Ortiz. Season-by-season PSAC rankings date back 25 years, and no Marauder in that time frame has led the conference in either category in back-to-back seasons. 
• Aside from Stover and Jahme Ested, the rest of the roster combine for two career postseason games at the Division II level. Dante Weise totaled seven points and nine assists in an NE10 first round loss as a player at Saint Rose in 2024. Saraj Ali scored 14 points for Mansfield in a loss at East Stroudsburg in 2024. Stover played in three playoff games last season, scoring 15 against ESU in the PSAC quarterfinals, posting 14 points and 10 rebounds against Gannon in the semis before scoring four points against West Liberty in the NCAA Tournament. In 2023, Stover scored four points in 15 minutes in the first round loss to Lock Haven. Ested played at least 33 minutes in all four of Millersville's 2024 postseason games, averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, including a season-high 17 against West Liberty. He scored 10 points in the 2023 loss to Lock Haven. He also played in all four postseason games in 2022 but averaged four minutes per game as a redshirt freshman. 
   

SCOUTING THE BALD EAGLES

• Lock Haven is 15-12 and playing arguably its best basketball of the season down the stretch. The team has gone 8-3 since Jan. 22, beating three of the top four seeds in the PSAC East in the process. Lock Haven enters the playoffs with wins in three of the last four, including a 94-89 overtime road win over No. 2 seed East Stroudsburg on Saturday. Isaiah Stewart scored 27 points, hitting 5 of 5 from three in the win. Lock Haven is 13-6 in games decided by nine points or fewer and 3-0 in overtime. Kevin Coleman ranks third in the PSAC in field goal percentage (.628) and fourth in blocks (1.7). Eli Washington is sixth in assist average (4.4).

SERIES HISTORY

• Lock Haven has won three of the last five, including a 66-57 PSAC Tournament First Round game in Pucillo Gymnasium in 2023. The teams split the regular season series in 2024-25, with Lock Haven winning 73-70 at home and Millersville rolling to an 86-66 win at home just nine days ago. Stover scored a career-high 32 points on 15 of 16 shooting and five Marauders scored in double figures. Aside from the 2023 playoff game, Millersville has won eight in a row at home against Lock Haven, scoring at least 78 points in seven of those games. The Marauders have scored at least 84 in four of the last six meetings in Pucillo Gymnasium.