MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Millersville held off a late rally in the final minutes by East Stroudsburg University and came away with an 82-79 victory on Monday night in PSAC action, halting ESU's win streak at five.
The Warriors, who trailed by 10 with just over three minutes remaining in the contest battled back and chipped the deficit down to one heading under a minute to play. Kitt Najee Walls began the string of nine straight ESU points with a basket in the paint with 3:00 remaining. Marc Rodriguez followed with five straight, including a three-pointer with 1:30 on the clock that brought the Warriors within one possession. Michal Weiss capped the rally with a layup off a nice feed from Troy Jones, which made it an 80-79 game.
After a timeout by Millersville, Caden Najdawi was fouled and sent to the line for a pair. Najdawi converted the first and missed the second, but Justin Nwosu was in the right spot to rip down the rebound for the Marauders. James Sullivan, who was sent to the line, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Weiss came down with the board for the Warriors.
Coming out of a timeout Trailing 81-79 with 17 ticks remaining, ESU got a good look from Jones from the deep wing, but his potential go-ahead three-pointer rimmed out and Khari Williams secured the rebound for Millersville. The Marauders called timeout once again, and Sullivan was fouled following the in-bounds. Sullivan converted 1-of-2 at the line, giving the Warriors the ball back trailing by three with five seconds left.
ESU quickly got the ball up court before Millersville used one its fouls to give with three seconds remaining. The ensuing in-bounds pass went to Justin Paz, who was forced to throw up an off-balanced, contested three-pointer, which missed the mark as Millersville escaped with the 82-79 win.
With the loss, ESU's five-game win streak was snapped as the Warriors fell to 8-4 overall and 4-3 in conference play. Millersville improved to 6-7 on the year and 3-4 in PSAC action with the victory.
Shamir Johnson netted a career-high 16 points to lead the Warriors in scoring, as he knocked down 4-of-7 from three-point territory. Michal Weiss added 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while Mike Millsip, Kitt Najee Walls and Montrel Morgan notched 10 points each. Millsip added a career-high 10 rebounds to cap his first career double-double.
The Warriors shot 45.5-percent overall in the contest and 11-of-28 (.393) from long, while Millersville converted 60.4-percent from the field and hit 8-of-11 (.727) from deep. ESU held a 34-26 advantage on the glass.
In the first half of play, Millersville built a 10-5 lead in the early minutes which turned out to be the Marauders' largest advantage of the half. ESU then rattled off a 14-2 run in under a four-minute stretch to jump in front by a 19-12 margin heading toward the midway mark of the frame. Johnson helped fuel the rally with five points during the stretch.
The Warriors then grabbed their largest lead of the half, 34-24, with 6:32 on the clock following back-to-back threes from Johnson and Jones, and a layup by Paz.
Millersville quickly responded with and 8-0 run in the ensuing two minutes to cut the ESU lead back down to just a pair, 34-32, at the 4:27 mark. The Warriors were able to remain in front for the remainder of the period, and carried a 46-43 lead into the halftime break.
ESU and Millersville were both efficient from the field in the opening half, as the Warriors shot 50-percent overall while the Marauders posted a 62.5-percent mark. ESU hit 6-of-12 (.500) from deep and held an 18-9 edge on the boards in the frame. Johnson hit 3-of-4 from long range and scored a team-high 11 points in the half, while Weiss and Millsip contributed seven points apiece in the frame.
The Warriors return to Koehler Fieldhouse for a matchup with Bloomsburg this Wednesday, January 8 at 8 p.m.
