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`On Monday night the men’s basketball team broke their five game losing streak by defeating the Shippensburg Red Raiders’ 79-71 at home in Pucillo Gymnasium.
The game was dominated by three-point shooting from both teams. In the first half Shippensburg got out to an early lead, but Millersville was able to hold off the Raiders offense.
There were five lead changes in the first half alone, but key three point shooting from freshman Jim Kelleher gave Millersville a 29-26 lead with 3:52 left in the half. Shippensburg made a comeback hitting another shot beyond the arc with about a minute left in the first half, bringing the score to 33-32 giving Millersville the lead at halftime.
The Marauders entered the second half with plenty of energy and motivation that Ship struggled to stop. In previous weeks the Marauders struggled to find success in the second half, but the game Monday night showed a different team.
A key turning point came when sophomore Mike Seibert hit a three-point shot while being fouled. Seibert added a free throw to finish the four point play bringing the score to 48-43 in Millersville’s favor.
The Marauders fed off this turning point to fuel their offensive game going up by 15 points at one point, their biggest lead of the game, with a score of 74-59. However, Ship made the game exciting with a late game comeback.
The Raiders cut the lead to 12 with only 2:12 remaining in the game and holding Millersville scoreless for almost two minutes. Shippensburg brought the game within eight points with 1:32 left to play in the game.
With time running out the Raiders turned to fouling the Marauders, who kept the game out of reach by hitting key free throws, bringing the final score to 79-71.
This is the first win for the Marauders in six games, and the second in the last seven games. With only three games remaining in the season the Marauders still have high hopes. “I’m still optimistic at this point, I still feel like we can make a push at the end of the season and hopefully get in the playoffs,” sophomore guard Nigel Davis said.
Millersville had five players who scored double digits including Seibert who had a career high of 26 points. Seibert also led the charge from beyond the arc hitting seven of 11 shots. Kelleher, seniors Palmer McDurfee and Jason Blake, and sophomore Rob Wyley all joined Seibert in double digit scoring.
Millersville is now tied with West Chester and Shippensburg with a PSAC East divisional record of 3-7. Millersville’s overall record now stands at 8-15. The team will travel to East Stroudsburg and Bloomsburg before playing their final home game Feb. 27 against Mansfield.