KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Junior Dustin Sleva scored a career-high 28 points Friday, making a career-best 15-of-17 rate at the free-throw line, while freshman John Castello finished 11-of-12 from the field with career highs of 23 points and 18 rebounds as the No. 18-ranked Shippensburg men's basketball team roared past No. 13 Kutztown, 97-82, in the divisional opener from Keystone Arena.
 
Shippensburg (10-0) remained one of nine unbeaten teams in NCAA Division II by scoring 28 points in the final eight minutes of the first half and leading by nine or more points for the remainder of the game.
 
Kutztown (8-2) led for just 58 seconds in Friday's game, taking a 24-23 lead with 8:45 to play in the first half on a three-pointer by Anthony Lee (22 points). Shippensburg countered with a 16-4 run that included three three-pointers to take an 11-point lead. The Raiders led 51-36 at halftime, and led by as many as 21 points during the second half.
 
SU's win snapped a 20-game regular season home winning streak for the Golden Bears. Kutztown is now 21-2 at home since the start of the 2015-16 season – with the only other loss being SU's PSAC Quarterfinal victory last season.
 
The Raiders shot 11-of-19 (58 percent) from three-point range, with senior Abe Massaley making 5-of-8 from distance and junior Justin McCarthur was 3-of-5 from long range.
 
SU won on the road for the second time this season when playing at a nationally-ranked opponent, and in both games, the Raiders have shot 90 percent from the free-throw line. After a 36-of-40 performance at No. 12 IUP, SU finished Friday's game 28-of-31 from the charity stripe. Shippensburg remains the PSAC's best free-throw shooting team, making 80.5 percent of its attempts this season (seventh in NCAA Division II).
 
Friday night was a showcase performance for Castello, who had already achieved his fifth double-double of the year by halftime. At the intermission, Castello had already totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds on 7-of-8 shooting. His 11-of-12 performance from the field was scarily close to the single-game school record for proficiency: Brian Rehm was 11-of-11 from the field against Clarion during the 1991-92 season.
 
Sleva was trapped on two rebounds well into the second half before recording rebounds on three consecutive possessions. He has totaled at least 15 points and nine rebounds in all 10 games this season. His career-high 28 points was capped off by a three-pointer with 3:06 to go that surpassed his previous best of 27 set last season at home against Mansfield.
 
Facing PSAC East Player of the Year Josh Johnson of Kutztown, Sleva totaled 28 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two blocks on 6-of-11 shooting. Johnson was in foul trouble all night; he sat much of the first half after McCarthur drew a charge on his drive at the 12:13 mark, and totaled just eight points, two rebounds, two assists and three blocks in 22 minutes.
 
Massaley had a marvelous night on his birthday, totaling 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds. McCarthur finished with 15 points and four assists.
 
Shippensburg returns to action at 8 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Millersville in a PSAC East contest from Heiges Field House.