You'd think Goliath would have learned by now.

Especially at David's home court.

But once again, the Millersville men's basketball team is trying to figure out what went wrong after the Marauders were upset, 77-72, by Elizabethtown Wednesday in Thompson Gym.

MU, which went 28-5 last season and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II playoffs, entered Wednesday's clash with its neighborhood rival with a swagger. The Marauders were a perfect 5-0 on the season.

But for the second time in three years, Elizabethtown pulled off a stunner — and set a school record in the process.

The Division III Blue Jays are 7-0 for the first time in school history after Wednesday's win over MU — the fifth in coach Bob Schlosser's 18-year tenure.

"We tell the guys, the only way they're going to beat us is if they outwork us, and they outworked us," said a disappointed Fred Thompson, Millersville's head coach. "I don't remember us getting any loose balls, I don't remember us protecting the basketball. We just weren't prepared, and it's my fault; we weren't prepared.

"They play hard and that's why we're 0-3 in here."

MU put a hurting on E-town last year on its home court, thumping the Blue Jays 96-59.

"Interestingly enough, (junior point guard Phil) Schaffer said to me (Tuesday), when we came out of the locker room last year and the place was empty and the score was still on the scoreboard, we said, we're not going to let them do this to us again" said Schlosser.

Elizabethtown didn't let it happen Wednesday, using constant pressure to force 23 turnovers and keep the Marauders off-target much of the game. That was especially true in the first half, in which Millersville shot just 34.5 percent (10-for-29), and through the first eight minutes of the second, when the Blue Jays added to their 36-25 halftime edge to lead by 20, 57-37.

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

Thompson admitted his team played well for a few spurts, including right after E-town had built the 57-37 lead. The Marauders, led by senior guard Charlie Parker, whittled the lead down to seven by scoring 13 straight points, and eventually took the lead at 66-65 on Reggie Bates' 3-pointer with 2:31 to play.

But after taking the best shots Goliath — er, the Marauders — had to offer, David — er, the Blue Jays — the Blue Jays never went down. Keith Fogel's long-range 3-pointer as the shot clock was winding down was a huge play, as was Chad Piersol's three with 39 seconds to play, which proved to be the winning basket.

"We were just trying to wear them out," said Piersol, who led Elizabethtown with 22 points. "The way we play, we tried to press them as much as we could ... and I thought in the second half most of their guys were getting tired, and missing some shots."

After a putback by Justin Simmons cut the lead to 73-72, Thompson called a timeout to set up MU's press.

E-town had to call time out when senior guard Mike Schatzmann was trapped in the backcourt. After the timeout, senior forward Bryce Rodgers threw the length of the court, over the defense, to Penn Manor grad Mike Church for a layup with 19 seconds remaining.

"I'll tell you what, I wasn't drawing that one up. He had to figure that out on his own," said Schlosser.

After Bates forced up a 3-pointer that missed, Schatzmann gathered the rebound, was fouled and sank two free throws with 1.7 seconds left to ice the win.

"This was a big statement for us," said Piersol. "That's our backyard rival, and we owed them from last year. We just wanted to come out and play hard, and we absorbed that run in the second half, and we came out on top."

The teams battled almost two minutes before either team got on the board to start the game, with Rodgers hitting two foul shots at the 18:18 mark for E-town. Millersville went up four, 11-7, after two foul shots by Bates, but the Blue Jays took control with a 12-2 run, and led until the Marauders' second-half rally.

E-town won despite shooting just 39.4 percent (26-for-66) — and just 5-for-21 from 3-point range — for the game. But the Blue Jays hit the boards hard (MU led 40-39), getting 18 offensive rebounds (led by Church with six), and making 15 steals, four by Schatzmann, the Pequea Valley grad who also had 18 points and seven rebounds. Church added 14 points, nine boards and three steals.

Parker scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half for Millersville, and added six rebounds, six assists and five steals. Bates had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

"It's one big win, but it's a long season, and we're going to keep this in perspective and move forward," said Schlosser.

CONTACT US: pglatfelter@LNPnews.com or 291-8777