SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The No. 22 Shippensburg University men's basketball team hit 10 three-pointers Saturday to get past a strong defensive performance from visiting Mansfield, as the Raiders posted a 65-57 victory over the Mountaineers in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup from Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (20-5, 16-4 PSAC) overcame its worst shooting percentage in a conference game this season (38.9 percent) to improve to 13-0 at Heiges Field House on the year, as the Raiders were playing their first home game in the last 17 days. Sophomore John Castello was integral to the cause, scoring a team-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting – including four three-pointers to tie a career high.
 
SU used a 13-2 run beginning at the 13:30 mark of the second half to gain its largest lead of the game, 15 points (53-38), with 9:06 remaining. Mansfield (6-18, 5-15) played the Raiders within two possessions for the majority of the first 25 minutes of the game until that run, and would get as close as six points down the stretch.
 
Senior Dustin Sleva finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Castello also grabbed nine rebounds. Senior Justin McCarthur was held to nine points, including a pair of three-pointers, while junior Antonio Kellem added six points.
 
Senior Clay Conner contributed seven assists without committing a turnover. Conner has now totaled five or more assists in 13 games this season, and also committed just one turnover or less in the same amount of games.
 
SU got 16 points from its bench – five each from freshman Jake Biss and sophomore Na'Quan Council – four from junior Joe Marshall and a lay-up from junior Manny Span.
 
Saturday's victory marks the third consecutive 20-win season under Chris Fite – the only SU head coach to ever direct the Raiders to multiple 20-win seasons in school history. Since shifting to a schedule of at least 20 games in 1953-54, SU posted just two 20-win seasons in school history over a 62-year span (20-11 in 1990-91 under Rodger Goodling, 24-7 in 2005-06 under Dave Springer).
 
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Raiders have compiled a 67-18 record under Fite, including a 40-3 mark at Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg travels to No. 23 West Chester on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with the Golden Rams from Hollinger Field House. It is the final game of the regular season for West Chester, whose "PSAC bye game" occurs next Saturday on the final day of the regular season.
 
Playoff Scenarios: Wednesday's game is rather important in the PSAC Eastern Division playoff race, as is East Stroudsburg's Wednesday game at Kutztown…Shippensburg and ESU are currently tied atop the Eastern Division and sit one-half game ahead of third-place West Chester and one game over fourth-place Kutztown…myriad scenarios are still in play for seeding, with a constant being SU needing to win its remaining two games to have a shot at the top seed…the results of Wednesday's games will go a long way in shoring up the tiebreaking scenarios, as all of the Top 4 teams still have a realistic path to a first-round bye.