ABOUT THE GAME

• The PSAC East is shaping up to be a hotly contested race over the next month. While teams are just three games into divisional play, the standings are tightly packed at the top. Millersville sits in a three-way tie with East Stroudsburg and West Chester for first at 5-3, and Shepherd lingers a half-game back in the standings at 4-3. Millersville bounced back from back-to-back losses with back-to-back road wins, sinking 20 threes in the two games--the most in a two game stretch since the first two games of the season. Importantly, the Marauders scored their first close win of the season on Tuesday at Shippensburg, winning 72-70. It was the Marauders first win in games decided by five points or fewer. Millersville had been 0-5 in those games before the win. Shepherd is plenty familiar with winning close games. Nine of the Rams’ 14 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer, and three of the last four have been decided by four points or fewer. Shepherd is coming off a 74-72 loss at East Stroudsburg. The Rams are 3-4 on the road while Millersville is 5-3 at home. Millersville three home losses have come by a combined total of 12 points to teams with a combined record of 31-12. 

• At 78.5%, Millersville is the PSAC’s best free throw shooting team by a wide margin, but the team’s attempts have plummeted in the last two games. After averaging nearly 27 attempts per game, Millersville has shot just 17 total foul shots in the last two games. The Marauders made 7 of 8 against Shippensburg. Millersville has taken fewer free throws than its opponent in five consecutive games. Aamir Hurst (6th), Day Waters (13th) and Saraj Ali (15th) all rank inside the PSAC’s top 15 in free throw percentage. 
• Shepherd’s Banks lives at the line. His 137 attempts leads the PSAC and ranks fifth nationally. He is ninth in makes. Banks ranks fifth in the PSAC in scoring average (19.1) and 38.8% of his points have come at the line. Gannon’s Morgan Lucas ranks second in the PSAC in attempts with 84--53 fewer than Banks. Ali is third with 81. Shepherd is not a high scoring team, averaging 72.8 points per game, which ranks 14th in the PSAC. It holds opponents to 72.3 points per game, which ranks second. Banks does it all, leading the team with 4.9 assists and 2.0 steals per game while ranking second in rebounding (6.7).
•  Millersville and California are the only two PSAC teams to rank in the top five in both field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense. Millersville is the only team that ranks in the top six in both scoring offense and scoring defense. It ranks sixth in both categories, and at +9, ranks sixth in the PSAC in scoring margin. 
•  After his streak of consecutive games in double figures ended at 23, Day Waters has responded with back-to-back games of 17 and 18 points. Waters has made at least two threes in each of the last five games and seven or more shots in five of the last six. 
•  Carnell Henderson scored a career-high 14 points and made 4 of 5 3-pointers at Shippensburg. Henderson scored in double figures just once in the first 13 games but has scored 10 and 14 in his last two. 
• Aamir Hurst has recorded a steal in seven consecutive games and in 14 of 15 this season. He ranks seventh in the PSAC at 1.9 per game. Millersville has held its opponent to 80 points or fewer in nine consecutive games. It is the program’s longest streak since closing the 2023 season on a run of 12 in a row. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Close games are the norm when it comes to the Millersville-Shepherd series. 10 of the last 12 meetings have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Millersville holds a 10-2 advantage in Pucillo Gymnasium, but Shepherd won last season’s match-up at Millersville 75-68 behind 19 points and eight rebounds from Marcus Banks. Shepherd swept the season series for the first time since 2020. The game on Jan. 11 went to Shepherd by a 63-52 final. Millersville shot just two free throws in the game and shot 42.6% from the field. Banks again led Shepherd with 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Saraj Ali led Millersville with 16.