JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team stormed back with a huge second half Wednesday to top Pitt-Johnstown, 81-73, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover game at Sports Center in Johnstown.
 
After trailing by as many as 14 in the first half, Shippensburg (9-5, 6-4 PSAC) cut the UPJ lead to nine at the half before exploding in the second half. SU outscored UPJ 47-30 in the final 20 minutes as the Raiders shot a blazing 56.7 percent from the field in the second half.
                                           
Senior Tony Ellis was brilliant at both ends of the floor as he scored 14 points while corralling seven rebounds and tying a Shippensburg school record with seven steals. Ellis had the task of guarding UPJ leading scorer A.J. Leahey and limited him to just 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
                            
The Raiders were led in scoring by sophomore Justin McCarthur and freshman Antonio Kellem, who each pocketed 17 points.
 
McCarthur knocked down a season-high three triples while Kellem made 7-of-10 from the field and had four assists and four rebounds.
 
Despite dealing with foul trouble, sophomore Dustin Sleva scored nine points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out a team-high seven assists.
 
UPJ (9-4, 6-3) took its largest lead of 14 points at the 1:59 mark of the first half before McCarthur hit his first three-pointer with 1:33 remaining in the opening half.
 
McCarthur's triple opened a 46-19 run by Shippensburg over the next 16:26 that was closed by a McCarthur stepback jumper that gave SU a 13-point advantage – its largest lead of the night.
 
UPJ responded, however, with an 11-2 run to cut SU's lead to four with 1:59 remaining.
 
After the two teams traded empty possessions, Ellis again came up big with two free throws and a steal in the final minute to seal the win.
 
Seven steals is a feat that has been accomplished by only one other player in SU history. Jason Lester also had seven thefts on Nov. 18, 1998 against East Stroudsburg.
 
The win was SU's fourth-in-a-row, and fifth consecutive in PSAC play. That is the longest winning streak in conference play by SU since the 2005-06 season when the Raiders won 10 straight PSAC games.
 
Defense was key in the second half for SU as it limited to UPJ to 9-of-26 shooting (34.6 percent) after the break. The Mountain Cats were able to make only 6-of-22 three-point attempts overall (27.3 percent) after entering the game shooting a PSAC-best 42.6 percent from beyond the arc.
 
SU will try to make it five straight wins Saturday when it visits Millersville for a 3 p.m. tip.