Josh Omojafo against Millersville
Bryce Dolak
64
Millersville MU 24-6,18-4 PSAC
98
Winner Gannon Gannon 28-2,20-2 PSAC
Millersville MU
24-6,18-4 PSAC
64
Final
98
Gannon Gannon
28-2,20-2 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Millersville MU 32 32 64
Gannon Gannon 52 46 98

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Golden Knights Ride Hot-Shooting to 98-64 Win over Millersville and Berth in PSAC Championship Game

ERIE, Pa. – On December 30 Millersville scored the first 14 points and proceeded to hand Gannon its first loss of the season by a 99-78 score. The two met again on Saturday in the semifinals of the PSAC Tournament with much more at stake, and this time around the Golden Knights jumped on the Marauders early and never looked back.

Gannon made its first seven 3-point attempts and when the smoke had cleared the Golden Knights extended their winning streak to 17 straight games with a 98-64 win to advance to the PSAC Championship game. Gannon, the Western Division regular season champion, improved to 28-2 while Millersville, the number two seed in the PSAC East, drops to 24-6. The 28 wins are tied for the second-highest win total in a season.

The Golden Knights will now face California (Pa.) in the PSAC Championship game on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at Hagerty Family Events Center. The matchup of the top two teams in the Western Division finds Gannon ranked third in both the NABC and D2CSC national polls while the Vulcans are eighth and seventh respectively. Gannon and Cal, now 27-3, split a pair of regular season meetings with each winning on their home court. The Vulcans reached the finals with an 81-78 win over Lock Haven.

Gannon is in search of its third PSAC crown after winning in 2008-09 and 2014-15. The Golden Knights were playing in the semifinals for the first time since 2017-18 and will be in the championship for the first time since that year. Much more is likely at stake, however, with Gannon and Cal ranked one-two in the Atlantic Region poll released earlier this week. The NCAA will release the field for the NCAA Division II Tournament on Sunday night, with the winner of Sunday's championship game likely to earn the right to host the regional.  

On Saturday Gannon stunned Millersville with an incredible shooting display to start the game. The Golden Knights opened the game with four straight 3-pointers, two by Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Philadelphia Montgomery Christian Academy) and two by Nigel Haughton (Bel Air, Md./South Kent). Josh Omojafo (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean de Brebeuf) followed with a fastbreak layup and 3-pointer to give Gannon its first double digit lead at 17-7.

Millersville closed to within 22-15 with a 3-pointer but Gannon went on an 11-2 run to boost its leads to 33-17 with 8:35 left in the half. The run ended with Omojafo hitting a jumper then soaring for a thunderous dunk.

Gannon's lead grew to as many as 21 points late in the half before the Golden Knights went to the locker room with a 52-32 lead. The Golden Knights shot 61.3 percent from the floor (19-of-31) in the first half, including 9-of-13 on 3-pointers. The Marauders would pull no closer than points in the second half, and that coming in the first 45 seconds as Gannon's lead grow to as much as 37 points late in the game.

Omojafo led four players in double figures with 30 points. It was the sophomore guard's fourth 30-point effort as he made 11-of-16 field goals, including a 3-pointer, and went 7-of-9 at the line. In the process Omojafo raised his season point total to 601 points, good for sixth in a season.

Tipton added 18 points, making 3-of-5 3-pointers and going 5-of-5 at the line. He added five rebounds. Haughton scored 13 points, all in the first half, while leading the Golden Knights with seven rebounds. He added two assists and two steals. Zachary Hobbs (Gilbert, Ariz./Mesa) was the fourth Golden Knight in double figures, enjoying a perfect shooting day on his way to 11 points. The 6-foot-4 graduate student made all four of his field goal attempts, three from beyond the arc. Derrick James (Columbus, Ohio/Canal Winchester) added six points, along with eight assists and three steals.

Gannon ended up shooting 61.0 percent from the floor (36-of-59), including a 12-for-21 effort on  3-pointers. They made 14-of-18 free throws. The Golden Knights limited Millersville to 32.8 percent from the floor (19-of-58), including 6-of-27 on 3-pointers. The Marauders made 20-of-27 free throws.

The Golden Knights held a narrow margin of 36-35 on the boards despite battling a taller Millersville squad. Millersville was forced into 20 turnovers while Gannon turned the ball over 16 times.

Millersville's inside tandem of Matt Dade and Drew Stover were the two Marauders in double figures. Dade went 12-of-17 at the line to finish with 23 points while Stover had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
 
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