MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - That one play, that one bucket, that one stop seemed to elude Millersville all season. It was again the Marauders' story in a season-ending 89-87 overtime loss in the PSAC Semifinal to PSAC West champ Gannon. 

Millersville (19-12) played brilliant half-court defense, deftly handled Gannon's (24-6) non-stop pressure in the front court and built a 20-point lead with just over 13 minutes remaining. But a foul call on a blocked shot immediately followed by a quick-whistle technical gave the Golden Knights life. Gannon scored 10 unanswered in 90 seconds and then out-scored Millersville 37-17, making 14 of 18 shots and four consecutive threes to close regulation and force overtime. Millersville, however, held possession with a chance to win in regulation and in overtime but could not convert on either. 

"I felt like we started forcing it, and we missed some chippies," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "We had a couple of plays that we could have made that could have kept the lead at 10. I thought we executed well late in the game but just missed the shots. Gannon got hot and got a couple of really big offensive rebounds. There were probably five or 10 plays in that run. We knew a run was coming, but we didn't withstand it and put the pressure on them."
 
Millersville's defense held the PSAC's top-scoring offense to 31 points on 32% shooting in the first half, and Gannon went four minutes without a point until the foul and technical. Gannon tied the game with 4:57 to play but never took the lead in regulation. Two free throws from Drew Stover with 1:48 to go put the Marauders up 74-72, but Victor Desmond answered with two. Both teams got defensive stops, and Millersville gained possession, and set up a play out of timeout with 23 seconds on the clock. Jahme Ested drove into the paint with his right hand and found Saraj Ali under the basket. Ali was only momentarily open as Tasman Goodrick blocked the shot as time expired. 

"In regulation, we did a great job," said Stitzel. "All the defenders ran to Aiden (Gair), Jahme turned the corner, Saraj does what we teach in practice. He 45-cuts and (Goodrick) makes a great play."

In overtime, a 3-pointer from Ernest Shelton off an offensive rebound put Gannon up 81-78, and the lead extended to six with 1:21 left. Millersville, however, chipped away. Down 88-84 with eight seconds on the clock, Aamir Hurst drew a foul on a 3-pointer attempt and calmly made all three. The Marauders fouled Justin Debuck to stop the clock, and he made one of two. With five seconds left, Millersville went for the win. 
 
The Marauders inbounded to Drew Stover on the wing and ran Gair off screens to the top of the key. The defense chased, leaving Hurst wide open in the opposite corner. His three, however, did not connect. 

"We went for the win," said Stitzel. "I was worried about our legs, and we had some foul trouble. We ran the Brad Stevens' 'Winner' play. Aamir got open on the backside as the in-bounder and got a look."

Ali led Millersville with 23 points. Gair made 5 of 11 3-pointers and finished with 21 points and four assists. Ested recorded 15 points, eight rebounds, a block and a steal. Stover added 14 points, seven boards and three blocks, and Hurst totaled 11 points. Pace Prosser led all Gannon scorers with 23, and Goodrick scored 22. 

Despite winning 19 games, Millersville finished 3-11 in games decided by single digits and 0-3 in overtime. The Marauders season was marked with ups and downs as three different starters missed time because of injuries, and guard Montell Cooper missed the final 10 games. After dropping their final two regular season games, Millersville won two PSAC Tournament games to become the only program in the conference to reach the PSAC Semifinals in three of the last four seasons. 

"This group has been through a lot," said Stitzel. "This group is resilient and they stayed together. They could have very easily turned on me and turned on each other, and that's a credit to them. I'll never forget that, and that's why they had a chance to win the game with five seconds left today."

Saturday was the final game for a pair of career Marauders: Drew Stover and Jahme Ested. Stover, Millersville's first PSAC East Athlete of the Year since 2008, finished his four-year career with 1,265 points ranks 29th all-time, and he broke John Fox's '87 career record for field goal percentage and set the single-season record in 2024. Stover's 56 blocks this season are tied for the seventh in Millersville history. Ested played in 116 games--the sixth-most in program history. He totaled 937 points, 312 assists, 112 steals and grabbed 463 rebounds.