MEN’S BASKETBALL DEFEATS WEST CHESTER, 67-37; WILL FACE KUTZTOWN IN PSAC QUARTERFINALS

Mar. 1 – The Millersville University men’s basketball team knocked off West Chester University, 67-37, Saturday afternoon and clinched the third seed in the Eastern Division.  The Marauders (19-8, 8-4) will begin defense of their conference championship when they travel to the second-seeded Kutztown Golden Bears on Tuesday, March 4, for a first-round matchup in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoffs.

Last season, Millersville defeated Cheyney, 79-68, in the final game of the tournament to claim the Conference Championship and automatic berth into the Division II National Championship Tournament. 

Guard Cory Bray (fr. Red Lion/Red Lion) led the Marauders with 17 points as he drilled 3-of-5 three-pointers.  Guard Charlie Parker (sr. Fawn Grove, Pa./Kennard-Dale) pitched in with 11 points. 

The Marauders jumped out to an early 7-0 lead.  Forward Reggie Bates (jr. Chicago, Ill./Hubbard) drilled a three-pointer 43 seconds in and Parker connected on a layup attempt after a steal by forward Bernard Brown (jr. Harrisburg/Harrisburg) a few seconds later to open the scoring. 

West Chester would cut the lead back to three (9-6) before Millersville unleashed a 21-6 run to end the half. 

Millersville continued the pace in the second half as they quickly pushed their lead to 26 (38-12) with 15:45 to play.  Back-to-back three-pointers by Bray and Parker provided much of the damage during the early second-half, 8-0 push.  The lead would never dip below 20 the rest of the way as the Marauders sewed up the third seed.

Millersvile shot 52% from the floor (28-54) while the Rams managed just 19% (11-59).

The 37 points were the fewest given up by the Marauders this season, topping their defensive effort against Indiana (Pa.) back on January 13 when they held the Crimson Hawks to just 40 points (58-40).  It was also the lowest total they have given up since 2001-02 when they defeated East Stroudsburg, 53-35.  West Chester hasn’t been held to 37 points since November of 1974 in their season opener against Temple. 

Tuesday’s game will begin at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the semifinals.  The other Eastern Division matchup will feature the fourth-seeded East Stroudsburg Warriors traveling to Cheyney to take on the top-seeded Wolves. The highest-remaining seed in the Eastern Division will host the final three games of the tournament next weekend (March 7 and 8).