Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – A valiant second-half comeback from the Shippensburg University men's basketball team in the final eight minutes of regulation fell just short as the Raiders scored a season-high 80 points in an 82-80 loss to PSAC newcomer Seton Hill on Saturday afternoon from Heiges Field House.

The Raiders (1-8) trailed as many as 16 in the first half and entered halftime down 14, but came out of the locker room with a spark, shooting 16-of-29 (55.2 percent) from the field in the final 20 minutes en route to out-scoring the Griffins 46-34.

Seton Hill (8-3), meanwhile, shot 64.5 percent (20-of-31) in the first half but was limited to just 8-of-24 shooting (33.3 percent) in the second frame.

Sophomore Joe Lococo led all scorers with 32 points – one shy of matching his career high – on 9-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range.

Sophomore Jay Hardy tied his career high with 14 points while freshman Abe Massaley added 13 points and led all players with a career-high eight assists.

Trailing 64-57 with eight minutes left, a 9-1 run over a three-minute span erased the deficit and put the Raiders up 66-65 with 5:33 left and gave SU its first lead since the first bucket of the game. Seton Hill answered, however, with a 10-1 run of its own to get back out to an eight-point lead, up 75-67, with three minutes remaining.

Lococo responded with an old-fashioned three-point play on the next possession before a Massaley lay-up cut the deficit to 75-72 with 1:33 remaining. Massaley made another lay-up with just over a minute remaining before Hardy sank a huge three-pointer on the following possession to cut the Raider deficit in half, down 80-77.

Seton Hill made one of its ensuing two free throws before a Lococo lay-up made the score 81-79 with 19 seconds left. After another SHU made free throw, Massaley missed the potential game-tying three on SU's final possession with a second left.

Sophomore Tony Ellis shot 4-of-6 from the floor and contributed nine points and four rebounds. Redshirt-freshman Marcus Williams posted his third double-digit rebounding effort of the season to go along with six points while playing the full 40 minutes for the second consecutive contest.

Shippensburg sank a season-high 27 field goals and recorded a season-high 15 assists while committing a season-low 11 turnovers.

The Raiders return to action on New Year's Eve day with a 1 p.m. non-conference test at Wilmington (Del.).