MANSFIELD, Pa. - Millersville busted Mansfield's zone with a season high with 11 3-pointers while
Saraj Ali's 19 points led five Marauders in double figures as Millersville scored an 82-62 PSAC East win at Mansfield.
Millersville (9-5, 4-3) had dropped two in a row and three of four, and Saturday's match-up wasn't pretty early. Mansfield led 27-26 with fewer than two minutes remaining in a low-scoring first half, but the Marauders closed with a 10-0 run, highlighted by freshman
Jase Holland's emphatic slam on an alley-oop pass from
E.J. Matthews-Spratley at the buzzer. That momentum carried into the second half where Millersville out-scored Mansfield 46-35 and made 5 of 12 from 3-point range.
"It's defense, rebounding into transition," said Millersville head coach
Casey Stitzel. "We've been struggling shooting the ball, and it feels like we had this conversation around the same time last year. We banged in a few of those before the half, and it gave us some energy. We didn't play great but we guarded and rebounded. We had a good practice yesterday, and I'm going to keep working to get us tougher for the wars we have ahead of us."
It took some time before the Marauders solved Mansfield's 2-3 zone. Millersville was 4 of 17 from deep before
Carnell Henderson and Matthews-Spratley sank the team's final two attempts of the first half. The second half was far more efficient. Millersville shot 56.3% from the field in the final 20 minutes and pulled away, leading by as many as 26.
"You see it at every level," said Stitzel. "Someone starts missing and everyone does. It becomes mental. When we saw a couple go in it was a big relief. We haven't seen zone like that since the opener. We did a good job getting Saraj the ball in the middle. We know this team has a chance to be one of our better shooting teams, it's just a matter of getting up to potential."
Ali made 8 of 10 shots, including a couple of highlight reel slam dunks, and grabbed eight rebounds against his former team.
Day Waters finished with 17 despite shooting 2 of 9 from three. He also pulled down seven rebounds. Matthews-Spratley shot 4 of 9 from three for 14 points.
Aamir Hurst totaled a game-high three steals and scored six points which was enough for him to hit the 1,000-point milestone. He is the fourth Marauder on the roster and 46th in program history to reach the mark.
It was a big day for Millersville's freshmen. Henderson scored 10 points, and Holland, who appeared in a game for just the second time this season, scored 10, pulled down four rebounds, blocked a shot and recorded a steal. He provided Millersville with essential minutes in the pivot with
Cesar Tchilombo in early foul trouble.
"Jase did a great job, scoring at the rim and playing great defense," said Stitzel. "He gives us an asset to use moving forward. It was a great game to get his feet wet. He's as talented and has as much upside as any freshman big we've had in the program. It's just understanding how to play every possession, but it was a great start for him."
Millersville has now won 14 in a row and 20 of the last 21 against Mansfield.
UP NEXT
Millersville travels to Shippensburg on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. tip.
