SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Senior Justin McCarthur set a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) record by going 9-for-9 from three-point range on Wednesday night, scoring a career-high 36 points, as the No. 23-ranked Shippensburg University men's basketball team clinched a playoff berth with a convincing 89-64 victory over East Stroudsburg from Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (16-3, 12-2 PSAC) tied a season high with 16 three-pointers, shooting a season-best 57 percent from three-point range. SU's field-goal percentage and three-point percentages were identical in each half, as the Raiders shot 47 percent from both in the first half and a torrid 72 percent in the second half. Over the final 20 minutes, SU was 16-of-22 from the field including 8-of-11 from three-point range.
 
McCarthur had 11 points at halftime with three makes from three-point range. He hit his fourth three-pointer to open the second half and finished the frame 6-of-6 from deep and with 25 of his 36 points. Overall, McCarthur was 11-of-12 from the field, 5-of-5 at the free-throw line, and had three assists.
 
Wednesday's performance also broke the SU single-game record for three-pointers, surpassing the previous mark of eight set originally by Karriem Parker (1994-95) and Alex Jones (2007-08).
 
Shippensburg never trailed in Wednesday's victory, racing out to an 18-6 advantage just 5:20 into the game and leading by double digits for the remainder of the contest. SU held the visitors scoreless for a 5:06 stretch late in the first half to lead by as many as 20 points in the opening frame.
 
McCarthur's three-pointer that opened the second half was the beginning of a 17-5 run that made it 58-32 in SU's favor with 13:58 remaining. Later on, a 12-3 run by the Raiders that included three more McCarthur fireballs bumped the Shippensburg lead up to 32 points. SU led by as many as 33 points down the stretch.
 
Senior Dustin Sleva was the leading scorer at halftime with 18 points. Sleva finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his 49th career double-double. He moved into second on SU's all-time scoring list with 1,788 career points, moving past Keith Hill (1,780 points from 1987-91).
 
Sleva is now 37 points from Chuck Davis's school record (1,825 from 2003-07). He is also just seven rebounds shy of joining the 1,000/1,000 club for career points and rebounds.
 
Junior Antonio Kellem had a hot start and finished with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sophomore John Castello had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and posted seven rebounds. Senior Clay Conner finished with seven assists, one short of his career high, to go along with five points and two steals.
 
East Stroudsburg (14-5, 11-4 PSAC) entered as the No. 4 scoring team in the country (94.5 points per game) but was held 30 points below its average, shooting 44 percent from the field and just 25 percent (5-of-20) from three-point range. Steve Harris led the visitors with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
 
The Warriors also entered with the No. 2 turnover margin in the country (+8.6) but committed 21 turnovers on the night compared to just 16 assists. Shippensburg scored a season-high 31 points off those turnovers.
 
Shippensburg now begins a five-game road trip, starting Saturday with a 5 p.m. match in Erie against Mercyhurst.
 
Notes: McCarthur's performance surpasses two PSAC players who went 8-for-8 from three-point range in a game – Lock Haven's Justin Wilson (vs. ESU in 2006-07) and Clarion's Justin Collins (vs. IUP in 2003-04)…only one player in NCAA Division II history (Kentucky Wesleyan's Rodney Edgerson) has gone 10-for-10 in a game, with the feat occurring Jan. 25, 2007 against Wisconsin-Parkside…Shippensburg improved to 12-0 at home this season and is 39-3 inside Heiges Field House over the last three seasons…SU has out-scored opponents by 215 points in the first half this season…SU has led at halftime in each of the last 14 games by an average margin of 15.9 points…SU has made at least eight three-pointers in every game this season…SU has posted a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in all but two games this season, both times being against East Stroudsburg (20 assists, 21 turnovers on Wednesday)…SU has won 13 of its last 14 games, with the loss at East Stroudsburg on January 3 being the only setback since mid-November.