ETTRICK, Va. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team shot 45 percent from three-point range against the nation's top three-point percentage defense on Sunday night and had four starters post double figures en route to a 77-58 wire-to-wire victory over top-seeded regional host Virginia State in regional tournament action from the VSU Multi-Purpose Center.
 
Shippensburg (25-7) has reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in history and will now face No. 2 seed East Stroudsburg (26-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the 2018 NCAA Atlantic Region Championship game. Both teams are in pursuit of their first-ever regional titles. Virginia State (25-5) concluded its season with the loss.
 
For the second straight day, senior Justin McCarthur led all scorers. McCarthur scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting; he was 5-of-8 from three-point range. He added four assists and two rebounds.
 
Senior Dustin Sleva collected his 22nd double-double of the season and the 58th of his career with 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. Sleva totaled 13 defensive rebounds in the game, just five less than the entire Virginia State team.
 
Junior Antonio Kellem provided integral scoring with 19 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the field. Kellem added six rebounds and two assists. Senior Clay Conner had 11 points, making 6-of-7 at the free-throw line, to go along with five assists.
 
SU raced out to a 14-3 lead after the first five minutes of play by making 6-of-8 from the field while limiting the Trojans to just 1-of-8 shooting over the same span. The Raiders shot 50 percent in the first half, making five of their first nine attempts from three-point range.  
 
Virginia State chipped away at the deficit with various 5-0 runs, getting to within four points of the lead (31-27) at the 2:47 mark of the opening half on a steal and a transition dunk by Cyonte Melvin. The Raiders closed with six of the final eight points of the first frame – including a pair of nifty lay-ups by Sleva, to take a 37-29 lead into halftime.

Leading by 11 points with 13:53 remaining, Shippensburg broke the game open with a 14-0 run that stretched the Raider lead to 62-37. During the decisive four-minute stretch, McCarthur scored 10 of SU's 14 points – including a pair of three-pointers.
 
Virginia State entered the weekend ranked 301st in the country in free-throw shooting (63.5 percent) but proceeded to begin the game 12-of-12 at the line. VSU finished 14-of-15 (93 percent) at the free-throw line while Shippensburg, the nation's top free-throw shooting team, was 18-of-21 (86 percent).
 
The SU defense posted its second consecutive sturdy performance, limiting the hosts to 37 percent shooting overall and just 2-of-18 (11 percent) from three-point range. Richard Granberry battled Sleva in the post and led the Trojans with 16 points in 21 minutes of action. Trey Brown added 12 for VSU and hit both of the team's three-pointers.
 
After entering the 2016-17 season without ever having won an NCAA Tournament game, Shippensburg has now posted a 3-1 record over its last four appearances in the Atlantic Regional. SU's 25 wins this season rank second-most in school history to last year's squad that finished 27-4.
 
Over the last 82 games (dating back to Dec. 16, 2015), head coach Chris Fite has guided the Raiders to a 67-15 overall record.
 
On Tuesday, Shippensburg will face East Stroudsburg for the third time this season. Each team won by double digits on their home floor during the regular season.