SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team engaged in a Sunday afternoon battle of the PSAC's Top 2 field-goal defenses with visiting Gannon, the PSAC West leaders, but its hard-fought effort was not enough in a 62-50 loss to the Golden Knights from Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (6-6, 2-6 PSAC) and Gannon (9-5, 8-1) combined for 36 turnovers in a workmanlike battle which featured a halftime score of 24-20 in favor of the Golden Knights. GU scored the first four points of the second half, led by as many as 14 points late and cinched its victory by shooting 90 percent (18-of-20) from the free-throw line in the second half and 88 percent (23-of-26) overall.
Despite Sunday's game featuring SU (39.0 percent), the league's top shooting defense, and GU (39.8 percent), No. 2 in shooting defense, both teams naturally shot above 40 percent. Gannon (44.2 percent) only attempted six three-pointers, making one, and had 37 percent of its points come from the charity stripe. Shippensburg (41.9 percent) was 4-of-16 from three-point range but 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) otherwise.
Senior
Dylan Edgar battled for team highs of 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals. His four steals matched a career high originally set in 2011 against Gannon. Freshman
Dustin Sleva scored 12 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field, and had five rebounds.
Sophomore
Abe Massaley had nine points, four rebounds and two assists while freshman
Justin McCarthur had 10 points. McCarthur and Sleva each hit two three-pointers, combining for all four of SU's three-pointers in the game.
Gannon's bench out-scored Shippensburg's reserves, 26-4, with backup point guard Marcus Jones scoring 14 points on 3-of-3 shooting and an 8-of-9 effort at the free-throw line. Girbran Smith played all 40 minutes and led all scorers with 17 points. Adam Blazek, reigning PSAC West Player of the Year, was held to 2-of-9 shooting and had 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Shippensburg will conclude the PSAC Western Division "crossover" portion of its schedule at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when it travels to Clarion to face the Golden Eagles.
