The No. 8 Shippensburg men's basketball team edged Slippery Rock, 90-87, in a back and forth, high-scoring affair on Saturday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup from Morrow Field House.
 
Shippensburg (3-0, 1-0 PSAC) and Slippery Rock (2-1, 0-1) both used accurate shooting and efficient offense all day long to go back and forth in a conference clash. The game had 21 lead changes and nine ties, with Slippery Rock's largest lead reaching six points and the Raiders largest lead reaching four points.
 
Shippensburg was powered by senior Dustin Sleva who poured in 32 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 shooting from three-point land. Sleva also made 11-of-12 free throws. The senior forward has now scored 30 points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
 
SU also got double-figure scoring efforts from senior Justin McCarthur, junior Antonio Kellem and sophomore John Castello. McCarthur finished with 16 points, with 10 of those 16 points coming from the free-throw line.
 
Kellem added 15 points on an extremely efficient day from the field. The junior shot 4-of-8 from the field, 3-of-4 from three point range and made all four of his free-throw attempts. Castello made numerous athletic plays for the Raiders in the first half and finished with 12 points. Castello also knocked down two of three attempts from downtown and led the team in rebounds with eight.  
 
Senior Clay Conner just missed the double-figure scoring mark with nine points but impacted the end result in multiple ways. Conner finished with a game-high eight assists and was 3-of-4 from the free throw line. All three of Conner's free throws came with less than 30 seconds to go when the Raiders eventually iced the game.
 
The first half saw both teams exchange points at a high rate as "The Rock" took a 47-43 advantage into the break. Neither team held a lead of more than six points and the largest run of the first half was a 9-0 run from "The Rock" that lasted just over two minutes right before the final media timeout of the first half.
 
The second half started much like the first half with both teams exchanging the lead. After a Justin McCarthur made layup that gave the Raiders a 64-63 lead, Slippery Rock's Bruce Spruell made one of two free throws to tie the game at 64 with 12:11 remaining in the second half.
 
Spruell then made a jumper on "The Rock's" next possession to give his team the lead, a lead that Slippery Rock would hold for the next eight and half minutes till the 3:15 mark. With the Raiders trailing 80-78, Kellem knocked down his third tree of the game to give the Raiders a one-point lead and their first lead since the McCarthur layup at 13:09 of the second half.
 
Brandon Simmons gave Slippery Rock the lead on the following possession on a tip-in but Sleva responded by getting back to the line and knocking down two free throws to put the Raiders ahead 83-82. However, Micah Till responded with a jumper of his own to give Slippery Rock a one-point advantage with 2:19 remaining.
 
The Raiders would turn it over on the next possession but got it right back after an ensuing Rock turnover. Sleva did not let the opportunity go to waste, making a layup to give the Raiders the lead and clinch his 30-point effort.
 
After both teams missed shots on their next possessions, Slippery Rock had the chance to take the lead with just over 30 seconds to play. The Raider defense stood tall however, fueled by a Sleva steal, forcing "The Rock" to foul. Sleva and Conner would combine to go 5-of-6 over the final 30 seconds to clinch the 90-87 Raider victory.
 
SU finished 26-of-51 from the field (51%) and a scorching 10-of-20 (50 percent) from the deep. The Raiders also combined to go 28-of-32 (87.5%) from the charity stripe.
 
Shippensburg will return to action Sunday at 1 p.m. when it travels to Edinboro for a PSAC matchup.