After being in seclusion for much of the season, the Millersville offense finally came to life Tuesday night.

It couldn't have come at a better time.

Thanks to their best offensive night of the season, and a red-hot shooting night from beyond the arc, the Marauders shot down Kutztown, 99-88, in a PSAC quarterfinal playoff game at Keystone Hall.

Ironically, it was the Bears who had the league's top-rated offense coming into the postseason. But on this night it was the Millersville attack that was nearly unstoppable.

Charlie Parker led five Marauders in double figures with a game-high 27 points, and Millersville buried 11-of-16 treys en route to its first win at Kutztown since 2005.

"This was a great game," said Parker. "We're defending champions, and we felt we had to come out and show that type of heart. This year, because of the standings (No. 3 seed), people might think that others teams are more talented than us. We feel like we have the experience to do things in the playoffs, and I think this was a big statement."

The win sets up a Millersville-Edinboro semifinal matchup Friday (5:30 p.m.) at Cheyney. Edinboro beat IUP 72-56 Tuesday night while the host Wolves held off East Stroudsburg, 71-69. Cheyney will play California — an 82-66 winner over Clarion — in Friday's other semi.

"Like I told them, never question the heart of a champion," said MU coach Fred Thompson. "We're the defending champions, and we're not going to give this thing away easy. You're going to have to get down, and you're going to have to beat us."

Millersville (20-8) attacked the Kutztown defense early and often. Parker's 3-pointer to open the game was only a sign of things to come. Even after falling behind 27-18 with 8:26 left in the first half, the Marauders clawed back, thanks in large part to the deep ball.

Freshman guard Cory Bray knocked down a pair of bombs during an 8-0 Marauder run that gave them a 31-29 lead. Bray and Parker each sank another in the half as MU eventually led by as many as six before Kutztown rallied to tie it at the half, 45-45.

Bray and Parker combined to sink 7-of-9 from beyond the arc in the first half. As a team, Millersville was 7-for-10. That's a dramatic turnaround for a team ranked last in the conference in 3-point shooting (29 percent) and struggled mightily from long range in a January loss here.

"I told coach yesterday last time we were here we shot 1-for-18," explained Parker. "I know teams, especially Kutztown, love to let us shoot. I knew it was going to be there, we've been shooting good lately, and I told him yesterday we were going to hit them."

The Marauders took the lead for good early in the second half when Parker connected from short range then forced back-to-back turnovers that led to four more Millersville points. It sparked another 8-0 Millersville run, which was highlighted by Parker's effort on both ends.

"The one good thing about tonight is I don't get to see Charlie anymore," said Kutztown coach Bernie Driscoll when asked to sum up Parker's night. "Charlie's a special player, and we're a better league for having Charlie in it. Charlie had a heckuva game. I won't be sad to see him graduate."

But Parker was not alone on this night. Reggie Bates, the second leading scorer in the conference had 18 points, Bray added 17, while RayQuan Miles and Bernard Brown each dropped in a dozen from the low post.

"Our strategy tonight was pound the ball inside," said Thompson, who is now 9-4 in the playoffs in his 10 seasons. "When you start putting the ball down on the inside, you're going to leave people open on the perimeter. Fortunately, we were able to knock down 3's."

Brown also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, while Miles had 10.

The Marauders out-rebounded the Bears 28-13 in the second half (47-34 overall), which was another key to success.