For Elizabethtown, it was all about making a statement.

Unbeaten and on the cusp of school history, the Blue Jays, one year removed from a 9-15 season, had a chance to make said statement in a big way.

Millersville, the reigning PSAC champion, braved the elements and brought its own undefeated record into Thompson Gym for a game that many simply assume the Division II Marauders should win.

For the second time in three years, the Jays busted that myth Wednesday night by downing Millersville, 77-72.

"No matter how you try to treat every game the same, this is a statement game for us because of who they are," said Elizabethtown coach Bob Schlosser. "It's an opportunity for us to show that we are for real, that we are a good basketball team."

The win pushes the Jays' record to 7-0 for the first time in school history.

"Tonight was huge," said Pequea Valley grad Mike Schatzmann. "We knew that if we won this game, people would know that we were for real. We knew we were pretty good, but you don't really get the recognition coming off a terrible season like we are."

The Jays dominated much of the game and eventually built up a 20-point lead midway through the second half.

The Marauders (5-1) were out of whack the entire first half, hitting only 10-of-29 shots and turning it over 15 times. The Jays led 36-25 at halftime.

"They were dictating how we were going to run our offense," MU coach Fred Thompson said of the Blue Jays. "We never got into any offense in the first half."

The lackluster effort prompted a Thompson tongue-lashing at the break.

"I told them we're not a tough enough team," Thompson said. "They're worried about being ranked nationally? They're not a tough enough team to be ranked nationally. We're not tough enough."

The Blue Jays extended their lead to 45-32 when Schatzmann converted a three-point play with 15:57 to go in the half. Still up 14, the Jays rattled off six straight points following a Thompson technical and grabbed the largest lead, 57-37, with 12:27 to play.

But E-town wasn't ready to claim victory, just yet.

"We knew they were going to give us a shot right down the throat," said Schatzmann, who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. "We knew it would be either (Reggie) Bates or (Charlie) Parker."

It was the latter.

Parker single-handedly took control of the game and engineered a ferocious Marauder comeback.

Millersville scored 13 unanswered points, including seven by Parker, and cut the lead to 57-50 with 9:33 left. Later, Chad Piersol (team-high 22 points) drained a trey to put the Jays up 63-56, but a 7-0 Marauder run, including five more from Parker, completed the comeback and the game was knotted 63-63 with 3:31 to go.

In the Marauders' overall 26-7 spurt, Parker was responsible for 16 and finished with a game-high 24 points (20 in the second half).

"You just felt so helpless," said Schlosser, of the Marauder run. "I'm saying, I can't believe one guy's going to beat five, and he almost did, but we didn't let it happen."

Bates gave the Marauders a 66-65 lead when he knocked down a triple from the corner with 2:29 left. They also led 68-67 and had the Jays racing the shot clock when freshman Keith Fogel threw up an off-balance prayer 3-pointer that was answered.

Ahead 73-72 with 19 seconds left, the Jays' Bryce Rogers threw an inbound pass the length of the court to Mike Church (Solanco), who converted the bucket for a 75-72 Blue Jays lead.

"That was a helluva headsy play," said Schlosser. "I'll tell you what, I wasn't drawing that one up. He had to figure that out on his own and I credit him for keeping his composure and doing what he had to do."

And credit the Jays for doing what they had to do — making a statement.

"We earned the right to be undefeated and in this position," Schlosser said. "I think we earned more respect tonight."