Marauders sprint to the finish to beat Lock Haven

Saturday, February 14

Millersville, PA

3:00 PM

Millersville University

17-8,12-6PSAC

Lock Haven

7-15,5-12PSAC

Lock Haven

Millersville

Marauders sprint to the finish to beat Lock Haven

2/14/2026 4:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Before Millersville coach Casey Stitzel pulled his starters with two minutes remaining, his Marauders had ripped off a 31-9 run in a span of 10 minutes, turning a one-point game into a rout. Behind 24 points from Day Waters and four players in double figures, Millersville pulled away for an 86-69 win over Lock Haven Saturday in Pucillo Gymnasium.

Lock Haven made six of its first seven shots to open the second half, momentarily holding a 52-50 lead with 14 minutes to play. With the Marauders struggling to connect from three, they became more aggressive with dribble penetration. Aamir Hurst, who finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Dante Weise, who totaled 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, went on the attack and found kick-out passes to E.J. Matthews-Spratley, who scored 15 points, drilling three of his four second-half 3-pointer attempts. Waters drew fouls at the rim. Six of his 10 free throws made came in six-minute window in which the Marauders out-scored Lock Haven 22-4. Millersville made 6 of 7 shots, 3 of 3 from three and 7 of 8 at the line to put Lock Haven in the rear view.

"Your offense always looks better when you make a couple of shots," said Stitzel. "E.J. got it going, and he's capable of that. If he can shoot like that and his defensive effort is up to par, he can be a big factor...Weise got in and changed the game. He was aggressive looking for his shot and that sets up other guys and gets other guys looks."

With second leading scorer Saraj Ali sidelined with an injury, Millersville went small, playing four guards for the majority of the game. The change in lineup forced Lock Haven to adjust as well. Waters, Hurst, Matthews-Spratley and Weise combined for 73% of Millersville's scoring and accounted for nine of the team's 10 assists.

"Most of our looks were pretty good but maybe we took a few quick ones when (Lock Haven) made their run, but playing smaller we had to play different," said Stitzel. "We used Day as a screener, and (Lock Haven) messed up a couple of times not switching or both going to the ball handler. The ball handler either got to the basket or Day popped and we got an open shot. We got them in rotation off of that, and that was a good adjustment we made."

Millersville's frontcourt made an impact as well. Cesar Tchilombo grabbed 12 rebounds and scored eight points. Freshman Jase Holland made 3 of 4 shots for eight points and totaled seven rebounds and a block in 14 minutes of action.

"Jase is always around the ball and guarding an all-league player like Dylan Scott, who had it going today, I was a little nervous with him going one on one, but his effort and his motor, he plays hard and did a good job. He's a big reason why our bench has been playing better."

Millersville led by as many as 23 points, committed just eight turnovers, blocked five shots, held a 37-30 edge on the glass, and made 16 of 17 foul shots.

Millersville has road games against Bloomsburg and Kutztown coming up before closing the regular season at home with West Chester on Feb. 25, a game that could decide the PSAC East if both teams take care of business in the coming week. Millersville and East Stroudsburg sit tied in second place, a half-game behind West Chester and Shepherd, both of which did not play Saturday but go head-to-head on Wednesday.

"Three games left with two road games next week," said Stitzel. "We can't have a slip up with our consistency next week. We end with Senior Day against West Chester, and that's always a war. We have to worry about winning our three games and taking it day-by-day."