• Box Score

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. (Dec. 21) – Despite a combined 41 points by juniors Arman Marks (Louisville, Ky./Eastern) and Alonzo Murphy (Pittsburgh, Pa./Imani Christian Academy) on Saturday afternoon, the Vulcans suffered a 78-66 loss at Millersville in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play.

With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team falls to 4-7 this season after entering play on a three-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Marauders improve to 3-6 overall and snap a three-game losing streak.

Marks led all players with a career-high 24 points after shooting 7-of-15 from the floor and eight-of-eight from the free-throw line. He also led the team with seven rebounds on Saturday and has now collected 20 rebounds over the last three games after totaling only a combined seven rebounds in the previous three games.

Murphy finished with 17 points and five rebounds while playing 30 minutes against the Marauders. He made six-of-nine from the field and five-of-six from the charity stripe. Fellow junior Tynell Fortune (Harlem, N.Y./Pocono Mountain West (Pa.)) added eight points, while sophomore Art Cook (Cleveland, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) tallied five rebounds and two steals.

The teams traded the lead for the opening eight minutes of the game before the Marauders mounted a 13-0 run over six-plus minutes to take a 20-10 lead with 7:08 left in the first half. Millersville made three three-pointers during the run and would eventually hold Cal U without a field-goal for nearly eight minutes. After a basket by Murphy at the 6:20-mark, the Marauders mounted a 15-4 run to stretch their lead to 38-18 with 1:56 remaining before the break. Cal U then rallied to score the last eight points of the half and entered halftime trailing 38-26.

Millersville started the second half on a 13-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 51-26 with 15:49 left to play. The Vulcans responded with a 17-7 rally over an eight-minute span behind a combined a combined 11 points by Marks and Fortune to trim the deficit to 58-43 with 7:45 remaining. Following a three-pointer by Millersville, Cal U scored eight-straight points to cut the margin to 61-51 with 5:27 left in the game. The Vulcans later timed the deficit to single digits, trailing 69-63 after a three-pointer by Marks with 2:04 remaining, however, the Marauders made seven free-throws in the final 90 seconds to seal the victory.

Cal U finished the game shooting 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the floor and just 20.0 percent (3-of-15) from three-point territory. Meanwhile, Millersville shot at a 42.1 clip (24-of-57) from the field and converted 39.4 percent (13-of-33) from long range, including eight three-pointer in the first half. The Marauders out-rebounded the Vulcans by a slim 36-34 margin, while Cal U scored 32 points from inside the paint.

Junior guard Jalen Lester led four Millersville players in double-digit scoring with 15 points and a trio of players finished with 13 points. Classmate Xavier Mumford recorded game highs of 10 rebounds and three blocks in the victory.

The Vulcans are idle for almost two weeks due to the holidays before returning to action with road games on back-to-back days, beginning at Shippensburg on Jan.3.