LHU Men’s Basketball crowned PSAC East Champions after downing No. 20 Millersville in regular-season finale

LOCK HAVEN– The Lock Haven men’s basketball team made history on Saturday afternoon (March 2) by downing No. 20 Millersville University, 90-79, to earn the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship (PSAC) Eastern Division Championship in front of the home crowd at Thomas Fieldhouse.

Saturday was also the Bald Eagles’ senior days and the program honored Jalen Gorham (York, Pa./MacDuffie School, Dyson Harward (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) and Collin Jones (Lock Haven, Pa./Central Mountain) before the contest for their dedication and contributions to the University.

The PSAC East Championship crown is the first in program history for The Haven, who finished 20-7 overall and 18-4 in the PSAC.

Lock Haven finished in a three-way tie with Millersville and East Stroudsburg, but won the tiebreaker, thanks to a series sweep over nationally-ranked ESU and will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

With the victory, the Bald Eagles earned a home game in the second round of the conference tournament, which is set for Wednesday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. Lock Haven earned a bye in the first round.

The 20 victories for Lock Haven are the most since winning 26 in 1989-90, while the 18 conference wins are a program-record.

The Bald Eagles are currently ranked No. 10 in the NCAA DII Atlantic Region poll. The NCAA Tournament selection show is set for Sunday night and will follow the conclusion of the PSAC Tournament.

Lock Haven finished the regular season with an 11-1 record in front of the home crowd at Thomas Fieldhouse.

In the first half, Millersville stormed out to an 8-0 lead, but the Bald Eagles countered with an 8-0 run of their own to knot the game at 8-8.

The Lock Haven crowd got behind the Bald Eagles from there to ignite a huge run, which was led by the second unit, and a trifecta by Bryson Scott (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) gave The Haven its largest lead of the half, 37-23, with 2:23 to go.

The Bald Eagles carried a 43-33 lead into the break and led by as much as 15 through the opening five minutes of the second half.

Millersville continued to hang around, before erupting on a 14-4 run midway through the second half to trim the Lock Haven lead to 67-63, with 10 minutes to go.

However, as they did all night, Lock Haven stood its ground and quickly pushed the lead back to double-digits, 79-69, with seven minutes remaining.

Millersville closed the deficit to as close as five the rest of the way, but back-to-back triples by Gorham and Isaiah Stewart (Madison, Wisc./Madison La Follette) put the nail in the coffin to allow Lock Haven to close out the victory.

Justice Shoats’ (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Holy Redeemer) monster season continued on Saturday and after finishing with 18 points, he cracked the program’s top-10 single-season leaderboard with 552 points as a sophomore (10th).

Shoats added six assists and two steals and ranks fifth in the PSAC with 2.0 steals-per-game.

Shoats finished the regular season second in the PSAC in scoring (20.4 PPG) and fourth in assists (4.6) and is the only player in the PSAC to rank in the top-10 in both categories.

With Shoats in early-foul trouble, Stewart took over the point guard role and was crucial for the Bald Eagles as they built an early first-half lead. Stewart finished with 20 points and made 3-of-5 shots from behind the arch, including the dagger in the final minute of play. Stewart added a game-high six assists.

Harward notched another double-double, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds to go with four assists.

Gorham added seven points and three rebounds, but it was his defense and timely scoring that helped Lock Haven seal the victory.

Jones led the second unit with 12 points and five rebounds, while Dyllon Scott (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) contributed seven points and five rebounds off the bench.

Up Next:

The Bald Eagles 2023-24 regular season has come to an end. The Haven is set to host the second round of the PSAC Championship Tournament on Wednesday, March 6 inside Thomas Fieldhouse at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for the game must be purchased here prior to the game on Wednesday.