Box Score

The Shippensburg University men's basketball team nearly completed a comeback attempt on Saturday night in its final PSAC crossover game of the season, falling 79-76 to California (Pa.) at the Convocation Center. SU grabbed the ball off a missed free throw with five seconds remaining but was unable to attempt a tie-breaking shot.

Shippensburg trailed by 13 points, 49-36, with 17:46 remaining in regulation. The Raiders gradually chipped away at the Vulcans' lead throughout the final frame but still trailed by nine points, 69-60, with 4:09 left on the clock.

SU then embarked upon a 7-0 run, capped off by a sophomore Akil Anderson tip-in, to trail 69-67 with 1:55 remaining. Cal ran its lead back up to eight points with 25 seconds to go before sophomore Reggie Charles answered with a quick lay-up at the 18-second mark and then hit a deep three-pointer with 11 seconds left after a missed free throw by the Vulcans.

California (6-7, 5-4 PSAC) was sent to the line again with 10 seconds to go before Mitchell Weedon's missed free throw set up the final mad dash. The ball was loose for a couple of seconds before SU collected it and made its way up the floor.

Junior Dylan Edgar had another stellar game in the post, leading four Raiders in double figures with 21 points. Charles had 18 points, while freshman Joe Lococo had 13 points, five assists and a career-high four steals.

Sophomore Sam Pygatt had 11 points in the first half on 5-of-5 shooting and finished with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Freshman Tony Ellis led the Raiders with nine rebounds despite playing just 17 minutes. Anderson was strong off the bench with nine points and seven rebounds.

Shippensburg will travel to face Bloomsburg at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday as it resumes PSAC Eastern Division play.