SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team raced out to a 22-point halftime lead Saturday in a PSAC Eastern Division re-match with Bloomsburg but had to survive a furious late charge by the visiting Huskies, ultimately prevailing 68-65 inside Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (11-8, 7-8 PSAC) never trailed Saturday and raced out to a 10-2 lead in the game's first four minutes. The Raiders closed the final eight minutes of the first half on a 22-8 run, getting three three-pointers from junior Jay Hardy and a career-high matching six points from freshman Trent Bauer, to lead 41-19 at the break.
 
SU shot 61 percent from the floor in the first half (16-of-26), making 7-of-12 from three-point range, while holding Bloomsburg (9-11, 5-11) to a 29.2-percent shooting effort. The Raiders had assists on 14 of their 16 field goals and also held a 20-8 rebounding advantage at the intermission.
 
The second half was played at a crawl, yet the Raiders still stretched their lead to a game-high 23 points (53-30) with 11:38 to play. After a three-minute stretch in which neither team scored, the Huskies closed the final 8:44 on a 35-15 run – missing a three-pointer with seven seconds to go that would have tied the score.
 
Bloomsburg trailed by 15 points (60-45) with 3:05 to go and 12 points (67-55) with just 1:36 remaining, roaring back in large part to a 6-of-11 effort from the field in the final three minutes and a 5-of-6 rate at the free-throw line. The Huskies also limited SU to just one field-goal attempt in the final five minutes of play.
 
Hardy had all of his team-high 16 points by halftime; he finished 5-of-8 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Senior Dylan Edgar played just 21 minutes but shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the field to finish with 13 points and eight rebounds. With SU leading by a wide margin for much of the game, freshman Trent Bauer played a career-high 15 minutes and finished 3-of-3 from the field.
 
A notably spirited first-half effort was provided by freshman Dustin Sleva; the durable forward tallied 10 points (2-of-3 from three-point range), five rebounds (three offensive) and four assists in his first 15 minutes of play. Sleva finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists without committing a turnover in 29 minutes.
 
Sophomore Abe Massaley dished out a team-high seven assists – six in the first half -- to go along with 10 points and four rebounds.
 
Defensively, the Raiders were stout with 10 blocks, including a career-high three by junior Tony Ellis and two by Bauer.
 
Shippensburg hits the road Wednesday to take on East Stroudsburg at 8 p.m. from Koehler Fieldhouse. The PSAC East-leading Warriors were upset Saturday by Millersville, leaving SU just a half-game up on the fifth-place Marauders as it enters a stretch of six games out of the final eight away from Heiges Field House.