MANSFIELD – Redshirt freshman Justice Smith scored his game-high 36^th point with just over a minute remaining in overtime, but Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) leading Millersville University sunk a pair of free throws to close out a 107-106 thrilling overtime victory on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 12 inside Decker Gymnasium.

Both teams were red hot from the field as the Mountaineers (4-19, 3-14 PSAC) shot 51 percent (42-of-83), matching their season high with 12 trifectas, while Millersville finished at 53 percent (41-of-78), adding 13 3-pointers.

Smith scored his 36^th point to give the Mountaineers a 106-105 lead with 1:21 to go to set up the dramatic finish. Both defenses had consecutive stops before Millersville's Jaden Faulkner drew a shooting foul and made both free throws to make it 107-106 in favor of the Marauders (21-4, 15-4 PSAC). The Mounties missed at the buzzer and Millersville escaped Decker Gym with the victory.

Smith pulled in eight rebounds and was 16-of-24 from the floor and 3-of-7 from three to lead four Mountaineers in double figures, three of which surpassed 20 points. Redshirt sophomore Marcus Friend finished with 24 points, adding four 3-pointers, while dishing out a team-high nine assists and plucking a team-high four steals. Freshman Scott Woodring notched his career-high in points, finishing with 23 (3-of-4 from three) to go with six rebounds. Jaz Farrell rounded out the Mountaineers in double figures, while Manir Waller filled up the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

The Marauders scored the game's first four points before Smith threw down a dunk to put the Mounties on the board at the 18:46 mark. The Marauders extended the early lead to 12-7 with 15:47 to go, but Woodring scored the next six Mountaineer points to cut the deficit to 12-11 less than a minute later.  

The Marauders extended their lead to nine two more times in the period, including 30-21 with 9:38 to go. However, the Mounties forced two steals and went a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor, outscoring Millersville, 7-1, over the next 1:20 cut the lead to 30-28 with 8:18 to go.

The Marauders scored the next four points, but a trifecta by Friend and a 3-point play the old fashioned why by Smith cut the deficit to 34-33 with 5:57 remaining.

The Mountaineers continued to apply pressure and back-to-back buckets by Friend and Alvin gave MU their first lead of the contest, 37-36, with 3:56 to go.

The final four minutes became a 3-point shooting contest as the team's combined to go 6-of-8 from deep to close out the period. The Mounties were a perfect 4-of-4 during the final 3:28 to outscore Millersville, 15-12 over the span and carry a 52-50 lead into the break.

The Mountaineers shot 8-of-14 from three in the first half, including a combined 6-of-8 from Friend and Woodring who led the Mounties with 17 points in the half.  

The theme continued to open the second half, as Farrell drilled a 3-pointer and followed with a jumper in the paint to extend the Mountie lead to 57-50 in the opening minute of the period.

A mini 5-0 Mountaineer run beginning under the 17-minute mark gave the Mountaineers their largest lead to that point, 66-58. However, Millersville answered with a 11-2 run, connecting on three straight 3-pointers over the next two minutes to regain a 69-68 advantage.

Continuing to be a game of runs, the Mounties countered with a 15-4 run over the next four minutes to take their first double digit lead, 83-73 with 10:36 remaining. Friend netted five points, including an NBA-range 3-pointer to highlight the run.

Once again highlighted by 3-point shooting, the Marauders erupted on a 15-4 run to regain the lead at 88-87 with 7:01 remaining. Friend followed with a pair of free throws and Woodring finished a layup to put the Mounties back up, 91-88.

Smith drained a floater to knot things at 95-95 at the 3-minute mark, but the Marauders scored four straight to lead 99-95 with 1:27 to go.

However, Smith continued to control the game, scoring the next four points in transition to tie the game back at 99-99, with 15 seconds remaining. Waller sent a full-court pass to a cutting Smith, who drained the bucket which would send the game into overtime.

Faulkner finished with a 33-point, 13 assist double-double to lead the Marauders. Mekhi Hendricks knocked down 6-of-11 3-pointers for 20 points, while Justin Nwosu pulled in a game-high 19 rebounds.

The Mountaineers have a quick turnaround, traveling to Bloomsburg University on Monday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. for a PSAC contest.