The Shippensburg men's basketball team upset No. 12 IUP on Saturday, 87-80, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup from the Kovalchick Complex. The win pushed SU's record to 6-0, marking the first time in school history that a Raider men's basketball team has won its first six games.
 
Shippensburg (6-0, 3-0 PSAC) shot 36-of-40 from the free-throw line, its first 90-percent rate from the charity stripe since a .917 efficiency back in an 87-83 win over No. 16 Kutztown on Feb. 20, 2010. SU was 27-of-29 from the free-throw line in the second half, including makes on its final 13 attempts spanning the final 5:10 of the game.
 
The Raiders were on fire for all of the first half, shooting 59 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point range and 81.8 percent from the charity stripe. SU would use a 19-3 run over a 5:39 span early in the first half to push its lead to 31-15 with just under ten minutes to play before the intermission.
 
IUP (7-1, 2-1) did not find the same rhythm in the first half, shooting 40 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point range. Shippensburg forced nine IUP first-half turnovers and turned them into 11 points. The Raiders led at halftime, 47-31.
 
After back-and-forth action kept the Raider advantage at double figures, IUP would use a late rally and run to close the gap and take a lead. With just under 10 minutes to play, and after a three-pointer from junior Clay Conner gave the Raiders a 16-point advantage, IUP mounted its comeback.
 
In just over five minutes, the Crimson Hawks would use a 20-6 run – fueled by seven points from Dante Lombardi – to take a one-point lead with 4:41 remaining.
 
Shippensburg would respond with its own run that ultimately proved to be the difference. The Raiders used a 10-0 run over a four-minute span, forcing four turnovers during the run, to take the lead and secure the victory. The 10-0 run was fueled by several trips to the free-throw line by senior Abe Massaley and junior Justin McCarthur. Both Massaley and McCarthur went a perfect 4-for-4 over that stretch to ice the game.
 
The Raiders had four players in double figures including Massaley, who scored a game-high 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He was 8-of-8 at the free-throw line and had four assists and three steals.
 
McCarthur added 21 points, including three three-pointers and a 10-of-10 rate at the free-throw line. He is the first SU player since junior Dustin Sleva last season versus Bloomsburg (Feb. 24) to go 10-of-10 at the free-throw line in a single game.
 
Sleva had another outstanding, balanced performance as he finished with 15 points and team highs of nine rebounds and six assists. Freshman John Castello finished with 10 points. Conner was key off the bench with seven points in 12 minutes.
 
SU finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field, including 41 percent (9-of-22) from downtown. IUP shot 54 percent in the second half (48 percent overall) despite attempting 35 three-pointers.

Saturday's victory also marks SU's first win over IUP since Feb. 27, 2008, snapping a six-match losing streak to the Crimson Hawks in which the Raiders lost each contest by an average of 18 points per game. 
 
Shippensburg returns to action at 3 p.m. tomorrow from Seton Hill to finish its PSAC cross-over weekend.