SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore Will Kirkland went off for a career-high 22 points on Saturday afternoon from Heiges Field House but the Shippensburg men's basketball team could not preserve its 11-point halftime advantage, dropping a 78-72 decision to visiting Cheyney.

Shippensburg (8-14, 3-7 PSAC East) had seemingly everything go right offensively in the first half, dishing out assists on 12 of its 13 first-half buckets and shooting 59 percent from the field. Junior Craig Van Scyoc hit four three-pointers in the first half; Kirkland was 4 of 4 from the field with 11 points and the Red Raiders had a 17-point lead with less than five minutes to go before halftime.

Cheyney (15-7, 5-5 PSAC East) began the momentum swing with a three-pointer at the first-half buzzer by Antonio Boyd and got another from Bruce Kennedy just six seconds into the second half that cut the visitors' deficit to eight points. Overall, the Wolves opened the second half with a 19-6 run to take a 46-44 lead with 14:10 to play.

The lead would exchange hands twice over the next six minutes – with a jumper by Kirkland putting SU up two with 8:42 to go, but Cheyney's David Burton answered with a three-pointer at the 7:40 mark and the Wolves would not trail for the remainder of the game despite the Red Raiders tying the score on two occasions in the final three minutes.

Kirkland – who also tied a career high with eight rebounds in Saturday's game – keyed an SU effort that thrived early on with its ball distribution. Junior Dane Lauber returned from injury and his presence was valuable from the get-go, helping to open up passing lanes with drives to the basket. Lauber finished with five points, six assists, two assists and two steals.

SU had a third player finish in double figures as junior forward Will Royal scored 12 points to complement two rebounds and two assists. Royal has posted double digits in six straight games and in 11 of his 14 games this season.

Senior Justin Minter had another productive outing off the bench; scoring four points while tying a career high with six assists. Junior Jordan Stasyszyn had nine points, including a pair of three-pointers. SU was 7-of-12 from long distance in the contest.

Both teams were efficient with the basketball: SU had 19 assists compared to 11 turnovers while Cheyney had 17 assists and only eight turnovers. The Wolves, however, shot 63 percent from the field in the second half and scored 51 points during the final 20 minutes of the contest.

The visitors got 21 points and six assists from Sharif Bray along with five three-pointers from Kennedy. Burton had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Wolves.

Shippensburg begins a three-game road trip on Wednesday with an 8 p.m. contest at West Chester.