WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The Shippensburg men's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot shooting night from West Chester on Wednesday in a 93-70 loss to the Golden Rams in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup from Hollinger Fieldhouse.
 
Shippensburg (21-3, 17-3 PSAC), despite the loss, did clinch a first-round bye for the PSAC Tournament. By virtue of Kutztown's win over East Stroudsburg, both the Golden Bears and Raiders will be guaranteed the Top 2 divisional seeds. ESU can at best tie the Raiders, but SU holds the tiebreaker by having beaten Kutztown once this season.

Shippensburg ran into a perfect storm as it struggled shooting the ball as a team while the Golden Rams were incredibly efficient from the field. SU tied its season low with 36.4 percent shooting from the field while allowing WCU to make 60.6 percent of its shots – the highest mark against SU this season.
 
Multiple milestones were reached Wednesday as junior Justin McCarthur became the 31st player in SU history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his career with a second-half three-pointer. McCarthur finished the night with 14 points, including makes on all six of his free-throw attempts.

The Raiders were led by senior Abe Massaley, who scored 17 points and posted a team-high six assists. Massaley now has 450 assists for career, passing Karriem Parker (1991-95) for second-most all-time at SU.
 
Freshman John Castello totaled 15 points and eight rebounds while junior Dustin Sleva scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
 
The Raiders scored the final four points of the first half, including a buzzer-beating floater in the lane by Massaley to cut the West Chester halftime lead to 46-42. However in the second half, SU had no answer defensively for the Rams as West Chester made 19-of-29 shots from the field (65.5 percent), including 7-of-9 from beyond the arc. SU was outscored 47-28 in the second half.
 
Tyrell Long was fabulous for WCU, leading the team with 31 points and 13 rebounds on 13-of-16 shooting. WCU out-rebounded the Raiders, 41-26.
 
Shippensburg will try to bounce back Saturday with a win against Cheyney, beginning at 3 p.m. from Heiges Field House. SU will honor seniors Massaley and Chris Nwandu before the game.