Box Score

KUTZTOWN, Pa. - The Shippensburg men's basketball team put forth a spectacular effort on Saturday afternoon from Keystone Hall in a PSAC Eastern Division battle with No. 2 Kutztown, trailing by just two points at halftime before ultimately coming up short in an 82-67 decision to the Golden Bears.

Shippensburg (8-9, 1-3 PSAC East) had solid contributions from a number of players and executed with fundamentals throughout the contest. Freshman point guard Lamar Jackson led SU in scoring with 14 points, while sophomore guard Craig Van Scyoc had his second straight marvelous performance with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Red Raiders trailed by as many as eight points in the first half but sustained momentum with smart possessions and some clutch shots from Jackson and Van Scyoc. More importantly, Shippensburg went on a 12-6 run over the final four minutes of the half to trail by just two points at intermission, 38-36.

Kutztown (15-1, 3-1 PSAC East) slowly extended its lead to start the second half but never got its lead above double digits until just 9:34 remained in the game. The home team shot 15-of-25 from the field in the second half (60 percent) and 54.5 percent for the contest to win their 24th straight game from Keystone Hall.

The Golden Bears entered the game off its only loss of the season and once again had a stellar scoring effort from its senior All-American candidate, Stephen Dennis. He became the 11th player in PSAC history to surpass 2,000 career points and also broke the KU school record for career points, finishing with 33 points, five rebounds and five assists.

The difference in the game was forward Tamir Johnson, who served as a complement to Dennis and cleaned up on the glass. Johnson was 9-of-10 from the field and totaled 20 points to go along with 18 rebounds, three steals and two assists. His effort in the low block kept Kutztown going when its perimeter shooting sputtered.

Redshirt sophomore forward Will Royal had a strong offensive game off the bench with 12 points and added four rebounds. Senior guard Brian Oleksiak had seven points, two rebounds, two assists and drew two charges in the game.

Shippensburg returns home at 8 p.m. Wednesday from Heiges Field House to face Bloomsburg.