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Millersville

Aamir Hurst

PREVIEW: Marauders, Warriors renew rivalry in PSAC East opener

1/6/2026 12:25:00 PM

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

COVERAGE LINKS

  • Series vs. ESU: 105-68
  • Series Streak: ESU, 1
  • First Meeting: L, 18-38 (1913)
  • Last Meeting: L, 67-89 (2025)
  • Last 10 Meetings: 5-5
  • Most ‘Ville Points: 125 (1989)
  • Record at Pucillo Gym: 30-12
  • Casey Stitzel vs. ESU: 6-11
  • Jeff Wilson vs. ’Ville: 28-19

ABOUT THE GAME

  •  PSAC East play could not begin with a more exciting match-up as two of the PSAC’s top scoring offenses collide in a match-up that has become one of the most competitive rivalries in the conference in recent years. Millersville navigated the crossover portion of the schedule with a 3-2 record while East Stroudsburg enters divisional play at 2-3. The Marauders and Shepherd are the only two teams to come through the East-West crossover season with winning conference records, and Millersville’s two losses came against nationally ranked Gannon (by four points) and a three-point road loss to IUP, which is 5-1 in PSAC play. 

GAME STORYLINES

  • Taking care of the ball against East Stroudsburg is key. The Warriors force 18.3 turnovers per game, ranking third in the PSAC. Millersville commits 13.3 turnovers per game, but have committed more than 16 just once this season. East Stroudsburg ranks second in the PSAC in scoring average at 89.8 points per game, but it is also 15th in scoring defense, surrendering 82.7 points per game. Opponents are shooting 47.2% from the field against ESU, which is the second-highest shooting percentage against in the PSAC. ESU’s primary strength is its 3-point shooting. It ranks fourth in the PSAC in 3-point shooting percentage at 35.1%. Ethan Millirons is the most accurate shooter in the conference, drilling 52.1% of his threes. He averages three makes per game with a season-high of seven against Seton Hill. 
  • Dante Weise’s ability to take care of the ball will likely play a key role in Wednesday’s game. He leads the PSAC in assist/turnover ratio (2.9). After committing four turnovers in the season opener, Weise has eight in the last 11 games while totaling 32 assists. 
  • Day Waters poured in 20 points against Pitt-Johnstown and 25 against IUP last week, and he and Shippensburg’s Markus Frank are in a battle for the PSAC’s scoring title. Day ranks second at 20.8 points per game and is one of just 38 players in Division II averaging over 20 per game. Waters has scored 10 or more points in 23 consecutive games and has scored 20 or more eight times this season. Including his final four games at Slippery Rock in 2025, Waters has scored 20 or more in 12 of his last 16 games. The last Marauder to average 20 points per game for an entire season was Mike Monroe in 1989-90. 
  • Aamir Hurst is 18 points away from his 1,000th career point. Hurst has scored 423 points in 43 games as a Marauder (9.8 per game). He will become the fourth Marauder on the current roster to reach that milestone, joining Waters, Ali and E.J. Matthews-Spratley. Millersville also had four 1,000-point scorers on the roster in 2022--a team that played for the PSAC Championship and reached the NCAA Tournament. Hurst has scored 10 or more points in 10 consecutive games, and his shooting percentages are up to .527/.335 after shooting .403/.280 last season. 
  •  Millersville is the PSAC’s top free throw shooting team at 79.1%. The Marauders get to the line frequently as well, ranking fourth in attempts. Millersville is also one of just two teams in the PSAC ranking in the top six in both field goal percentage offense and defense. The keys for Millersville are defense and rebounding. It is 1-3 when allowing 80 or more points and 2-4 when getting out-rebounded. 

SERIES HISTORY

  • Millersville has won three of the last four games against East Stroudsburg, but home court advantage in this series is everything. Since 2019-20, Millersville holds a narrow 6-5 edge in the series and five of those six wins have come at home. ESU’s last win at Pucillo Gymnasium was on Jan. 14, 2023. Millersville has since won the last three games at home, although all three games were decided by eight points or fewer. Last season, Millersville won 92-85 at home behind 19 points from Drew Stover and 13 points and eight rebounds from Saraj Ali. East Stroudsburg rolled a month later at home, winning 89-67 by holding Ali to five points. Millersville committed 20 turnovers in the loss. Since 2013, Millersville is 1-8 against ESU when committing 20 or more turnovers. 
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