Bench sparks Marauders to win over Bloomsburg

Saturday, January 24

Millersville, PA

3:00 PM

Millersville University

13-6,8-4PSAC

Bloomsburg

5-13,2-10PSAC

Bloomsburg

Millersville

Photo by: Kaya Wagner 2026

Bench sparks Marauders to win over Bloomsburg

1/24/2026 5:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Fueled by E.J. Matthews-Spratley and the second unit, the Millersville Marauders held Bloomsburg scoreless for nearly 10 minutes in the first half and close the game on a 12-3 run, pulling away for a 78-53 win at Pucillo Gymnasium Saturday.

Matthews-Spratley scored 10 of his 15 points in a first half run that woke the Marauders for a sleepy start. Matthews-Spratley, Carnell Henderson, Jase Holland and Malcom Dread combined to shoot 8 of 10 from the field and 3 of 5 from three for 20 bench points in the first 20 minutes.

"I liked their minutes," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "E.J. had one of his best all-around games of the season. If we can get that type of effort going into a tough stretch, it will help a lot. Carnell always brings the juice and energy on defense. Jase is ascending as a basketball player. He's getting better which will be an asset when we play bigger teams. We made the decision to go with Dread at the back-up four, and I liked his minutes. He is playing through a stress fracture in his leg, which shows you about his character. He cares about the program, which is important. Those guys gave us good minutes and got us going."

Matthews-Spratley's 3-pointer started a 24-0 Millersville run that turned a 14-6 deficit into a 30-14 lead in 10-minute stretch that saw the Huskies miss nine consecutive shots and commit five turnovers.

"We've been lacking that bench production," said Stitzel. "E.J.'s game today was what we envisioned when we moved him into the sixth-man role--someone who has an offensive mindset and can get us going."

The Marauders' lead remained at a comfortable margin until they got careless against Bloomsburg's press. A couple of turnovers led to transition buckets, and a 9-0 Huskies' run slashed Millersville's advantage to 54-45 with 10:50 remaining. Matthews-Spratley had the answer, however, hitting a hanging jumper and converting a three-point play.

"There are stretches where teams can't move, and we get every rebound," said Stitzel. "But there are too many ups and downs. We took our foot off the pedal in the second half and didn't guard up to our abilities. There were a couple rebounds we didn't get, and the turnovers showed up again. We've been so close to beating good teams, and the consistency over 40 minutes has been the issue."

Millersville went to its closer, Saraj Ali, often in the final 10-minute stretch. He scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in that span and totaled 16 in the second half. Millersville made 8 of 11 shots and sank 7 of 9 free throws, outscoring Bloomsburg 24-10 over the final 10 minutes.

"I thought our body movement was better," said Stitzel. "We are trying to implement some offenses where we spread things out so defenses can't sag on him as much. We are so close to being a good team. We have to continue to get better."

Millersville's leading scorer Day Waters struggled early, shooting 2 of 8 from the field and 0 of 3 from distance in the first half, but he still finished with 18 points and tied for team-high honors with eight rebounds. He moved up to 32nd on Millersville's career scoring list with 1,243 points. Waters has scored 17 or more points in six consecutive games and grabbed at least eight rebounds in the last three.

"The eight rebounds jumps off the chart," said Stitzel. "He's upped his rebounding and doing a great job defensively. His plus/minus was plus-26, which was the highest on the team, and that's huge."

Millersville has won 12 of the last 13 against Bloomsburg including seven in a row at home with an average margin of victory of nearly 27 points per game.

The win boosted Millersville's record to 13-6 overall and 8-4 in conference play, remaining a half-game behind first-place West Chester in the standings. The Marauders were set to travel to West Chester on Jan. 27, but the expected weather has moved the game to Feb. 2.