It was nobody’s kind of college basketball game except, maybe, for Millersville’s Saraj Ali.

Ali is a 6-foot-6 senior forward who attacks the rim — not the paint, the rim, as close as he can get — with relentless gusto. That approach earned him 23 points and, not coincidentally, 13 free throws as the Marauders trudged past Bowie State 88-71 in a nonconference men’s game Friday at Pucillo Gym.

The carnage, including 54 fouls and 77 free throws, made this one more a game to be endured than enjoyed, as MU coach Casey Stitzel put it “for a spectator, a reporter or a coach.”

Still, it was a 17-point win, the Marauders’ sixth straight, in what Stitzel termed “a trap game,” with powerful, 15th-ranked Gannon coming to Pucillo Sunday.

The Bulldogs are 3-10. They didn’t score and it wasn’t clear how they were going to score for nearly the game’s first five minutes.

Bowie mixed it up defensively, though, and eventually started attacking the basket and getting whistles.

“They have nothing to lose, right?” Stitzel said.

Except that not many play that game better than the lean-but-relentless Ali.

“My mentality has always been to be aggressive offensively,” Ali said. “I mean, get to the rim until somebody stops you, and once they stop you, kick it to your teammates.”

It seems to work. Ali is averaging 18.7 points, on 58% shooting, and six rebounds per game. His 3-pointers pointers made on the season: zero.

He was first team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East last season and was the state Class 4A Player of the Year as a senior at Loyalsock High School, which won a state championship his junior year.

The Marauders (7-2) led Friday for 39:07. They struggled at times with the game’s pace, which was choppy at best and turgid at worst.

They ultimately won comfortably by holding Bowie to 37% shooting, including 27% from the arc, and winning the rebound battle 48-38.

“We’re making 15 plays a game we can’t make,” Stitzel said. “We’ve got to cut that in half.”

Stitzel vented a bit at his guys, who’d been laboring, during a timeout with about nine minutes left. Coming out of the huddle, Ali convened another one on the floor with his four teammates.

“I just let everyone know you got to stay calm in the storm,” he said. “Just calm down, play defense and stay solid. Just stay solid out there.”

Soon the Marauders were cruising, although with too many stops at red lights.

“The good news was field-goal percentage defense,” Stitzel said. “We’ve just got to be more consistent. Right now we’re guarding for about 30 of the 40 (minutes). Earlier in the year it was 20.

“We’ve got to guard for 40 and rebound for 40. If you guard and rebound with the talent we have, you’re going to win games.”

The box score looks pretty good. Ali made 6-of-9 shots from the field, 11-of-13 from the line and had seven rebounds. The center, Cesar Tchilombo, had 12 points and 17 boards; he’s 6-9 and something of a project, but has the rebounding gene.

Point guard Aamir Hurst scored 17 and senior transfer guard Eleazar Matthews-Spratley had 14.

Gannon is a different animal. The Golden Knights are 8-1 this season and 65-11 since the beginning of the 2023-24 season, in which they reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

They do it largely in the transfer portal, at the 3-point arc and with full-court pressure defense.

Gannon will play at tough West Chester today.

The Marauders already have a win over then-nationally ranked Dominican and the only win over now 10-1 Virginia Union.

It’ll be all PSAC from here on out.

“I think it’s about the press, about rebounding,” Stitzel said. “They (Gannon) average 19 offensive rebounds a game. If you can cut that in half, you’re gonna play in transition. You’re gonna be able to run offense and wear them down. That’ll be the difference in the game.”

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