LH men’s basketball stifles Millersville for first postseason win in 33 Years
MILLERSVILLE, PA – On the road in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) First Round, the No. 5 seed Lock Haven University men’s basketball team (17-11) broke a 33-year old streak with a 66-57 win over the No. 4 seed Millersville University (18-11) on Monday night as the Bald Eagles shut down the Marauders for the historic victory.
Prior to Monday night, the last LHU men’s basketball postseason win was the 1989-90 season, which saw the Bald Eagles defeat Edinboro 84-75 in the PSAC Quarterfinals. Head coach Mike Nestor and The Haven used a tenacious defensive effort to break the streak in the impressive win over the 2022 PSAC runners-up.
After a 7-7 start to the game, the Bald Eagles exploded for a 13-2 run over the next four minutes, including four points each from Justice Shoats (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Holy Redeemer) and James Price (Joppa, Md./Archbishop Curley) to take a thrilling 20-9 lead.
The Marauders struggled to stop the Bald Eagles offensive firepower in the first half, and LHU increased their lead to double digits at 33-18 going into halftime.
Lock Haven stayed aggressive in the final half as Eli Washington (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) scored four straight points to build up a 42-27 with 10 minutes to play.
Late in the half, Millersville refused to go away and brought the game within ten, scoring eight-straight to cut The Haven’s lead to just 45-35. The host’s momentum kept rolling and they pulled within 50-44 at the 6-minute mark.
With two minutes remaining in the playoff thriller, the Marauders came within as few as two, but the Bald Eagles responded with crucial late buckets from Price and Washington along with their trademark stingy defense to claim the road-postseason victory 66-57.
Washington and Price shouldered the offensive burned and led the team in points with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Price landed a double-double hauling in a game-high 13 key rebounds for the team. Washington also grabbed eight boards of his own
Jayy Davis (Cheltenham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham (Washington Adventist)) rounded out a trio of Bald Eagles with 10 points and six rebounds.
Defensively, Dymir Montague (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) proved to be a menace to the Marauders grabbing a game-high four steals to go with four steals and four assists.
As a team, a massive 42-28 lead in rebounding proved to be decisive for the Bald Eagles. LHU’s defense also forced the Marauders into 20 turnovers.
With the win, Lock Haven continues their playoff run and advances to the quarterfinals to face the No. 1 seed Shippensburg on Wednesday. Tipoff for the postseason clash is set for 7:30 p.m.
