SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team got a game-high 21 points off the bench from junior Jay Hardy and a career-high 11 assists from sophomore point guard Abe Massaley as it opened the 2014-15 season with a 77-54 victory over Georgian Court in the 2014 Wolf's Bus Lines Classic held inside Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (1-0) limited Georgian Court (0-1) to 28.6-percent shooting, the lowest rate by an opponent since December 2006 (Neumann, 19.5 percent), and scored 25 points off 23 Lion turnovers. The Raiders also blocked nine shots in achieving their largest win over a Division II opponent since January 2011.

"We took a lot of positives from our exhibition at Duquesne and felt we could build on that," head coach Chris Fite said after the game. "We set the bar there, and now each night we have to come out with the same mindset, the same mentality, the same chip on our shoulder. If we play hard and play defense like we did tonight, then we'll be in most games and probably win more than we lose."
 
Massaley's 11 assists are the most by a Raider since Lamar Jackson had 11 on Nov. 23, 2010 in a victory over Wilmington (Del.). The sophomore guard added seven points and a steal.
 
Hardy led all players at the break with 11 points, including two dunks that energized the home crowd. He was 9-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-7 from three-point range, and added six rebounds to go along with three blocks. His best rejection came in the final minute of the first half as he caught a Lion player from behind and trapped his shot from behind off the glass.
 
Senior center Dylan Edgar returned to the floor for the first time in more than a year and finished with 17 points on 7-of-9 shootings to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. He also blocked two shots.
 
Freshmen Dustin Sleva and Justin McCarthur earned starts Friday night and led a group of four rookies that made their Raider debuts. Sleva had nine points, four rebounds, two steals and a block while McCarthur had seven points, two rebounds and two steals.

"Our guys play hard and play for each other," Fite said. "That needs to be our mantra; it's a collective. We're sharing the ball and guys are making plays for each other."
 
Both teams struggled from distance, combining to shoot 6-of-33 from three-point range. SU was just 4-of-18 (22 percent) three-point range but finished the game shooting 50 percent overall. Excluding its three-point attempts, the Raiders shot 22-of-34 (64.7 percent) and finished with a 42-22 advantage for points in the paint.
 
SU trailed just once, 7-6 at the 14:32 mark, before using a 12-2 run to lead 18-9 with 10:45 left in the opening frame. The Raiders opened the second half with a 19-6 run to lead 55-30 with 13:19 to play, leading by as many as 26 points with a minute to go.
 
Shippensburg hosts Felician at 8 p.m. Saturday to conclude the 2014 Wolf's Bus Lines Classic. Felician lost to Clarion on Friday, 89-76.