CHEYNEY, Pa. – Saturday afternoon's contest between the Shippensburg and Cheyney men's basketball teams was as good as it gets. The two squads hit shots from all over the floor and the game was within one possession for all but 91 seconds of the second half. In the end, it was homestanding Cheyney that came away with an 80-79 victory from Cope Hall.

Shippensburg (5-9, 0-2 PSAC East) had about as perfect of a road game as possible. The team shot 50 percent from the floor, 60 percent from three-point range and 70 percent from the free-throw line. Five Red Raiders finished in double figures; eight scored at least three points, and SU posted a positive assist-to-turnover ratio for the sixth straight game.

Cheyney (11-3, 1-1 PSAC East) rode the exploits of the multi-talented Sharif Bray, who scored a game-high 33 points. Bray had 15 points in the first half, 18 in the second half and was 11-of-15 from the floor. He has scored 84 points in his last three games against the Red Raiders.

The Wolves also got 21 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals from David Burton, the reigning PSAC Eastern Division Player of the Week. Cheyney was 11-of-22 from three-point range (Bray was 6-of-9) and committed just 10 turnovers.

Each time had one five-point lead in the game - both in the second half - but Shippensburg's lasted for just 11 seconds and Cheyney's lasted for just seven seconds. No team led by more than four points at any other point in the game.

Trailing by two points in the final 20 seconds, junior forward Will Royal had a put-back off a missed three-pointer to tie the score. Cheyney put the ball into Bray's hands, and the senior drew a foul with two seconds on the clock. Bray sank both free throws, and SU was left with little time to answer.

Nevertheless, Royal heaved a three-quarter court throw that somehow ended up in the hands of junior Dane Lauber, who was fouled with 0.8 seconds on the clock. Lauber hit the first of his two free throws, but missed the second attempt after Cheyney had called a 30-second timeout to ice him. The rebound caromed away as time expired.

Junior Jordan Stasyszyn had one of his best games of the season, totaling a team-high 15 points off the bench. He was 3-of-5 from three-point range and had three assists.

Fellow junior Craig Van Scyoc was once again deadly from beyond the arc, shooting 4-of-6 from three-point range to finish with 14 points. He also had six rebounds and two assists without committing a turnover.

Sophomore Will Kirkland contributed a career-high 13 points and has totaled double digits in three of his four games this season. Kirkland was 5-of-8 from the floor, made all three of his free throws, grabbed three rebounds and had two steals.

Senior Jaren Gembe had 10 points, five assists and two steals. Royal finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Lauber had eight points and four rebounds while senior Justin Minter totaled five points and four assists.

Shippensburg is on the road Wednesday for a PSAC Eastern Division contest at Bloomsburg. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and live Internet radio coverage will be available at http://wsyc.org.