The Shippensburg men's basketball team could not overcome a hot-shooting Shepherd team that hit 14 three-pointers on Sunday, as the Raiders dropped a 93-67 decision to the Rams in a non-conference matchup at the Butcher Athletic Center.
Shippensburg (5-5) shot 5-of-27 (17 percent) from three-point range, with senior
Jay Hardy making 3-of-7 from distance and finishing with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting overall.
Sophomore
Dustin Sleva produced his fifth consecutive double-double and seventh overall in the last nine games, totaling 15 points and 18 rebounds. Sleva's 18 rebounds are the most by a Raider in a single game since Derrick Graff pulled down 19 rebounds against Bloomsburg on Feb. 18, 2009.
Freshman
Antonio Kellem posted double digits for the seventh time this season, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Junior
Abe Massaley was held to a season-low five points.
Shepherd (4-4) closed the first half on an 11-0 run and then started the second half on a 14-6 run to establish a 16-point advantage. Shippensburg trailed by 17 points with less than 10 minutes to play but got to within six points after a 15-4 run. It was as close as the Raiders would get to the lead the rest of the way.
The host Rams shot 51 percent from the field, including 67 percent (24-of-36) in the second half. Shepherd made 14-of-30 from three-point range and scored 58 points in the second half. Steffen Davis did not start but managed to lead all scorers with 26 points, shooting 6-of-9 from distance. AJ Carr had 20 points, while Skyler Roman had nine points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Sunday's game marked the third out of the last four in which a Raider opponent came off the bench to hit four or more three-pointers. Seton Hill's Noah Davis was 4-of-7 and West Chester's Jackson Hyland was 4-of-4.
Shepherd committed just five turnovers in the contest, the fewest by a Raider opponent since Edinboro committed just five on Jan. 8, 2014. The Rams had 21 assists and scored 19 points off 12 turnovers.
Shippensburg is at Mansfield on Wednesday for an 7:30 p.m. PSAC matchup with the Mountaineers.
