SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team used a 17-2 run midway through the second half on Saturday to surge past visiting Cal U., defeating the Vulcans by a 79-60 score in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover matchup from Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (7-1, 3-0 PSAC), playing for the first time in 13 days, called a timeout just 2:30 into Saturday's game after falling behind by a 10-4 score. Cal U. (5-3, 2-1) led 24-17 less than 10 minutes in, but the Vulcans would not get to the 48-point mark until there was just 6:03 remaining in the contest.
 
The Raiders trailed 34-33 at halftime and held a one-point lead, 46-45, with 11:41 remaining. Shippensburg then embarked upon the aforementioned 17-2 run, beginning with back-to-back three-pointers from senior Daylon Carter and capped off by a three-pointer from junior Jake Biss.
 
SU was 3-of-4 from three-point range and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line during the five-minute run; it otherwise shot 3-of-21 from three-point range on the day. The Raiders shot 19-of-25 (76 percent) at the free-throw line, while the Vulcans were 3-of-6 (50 percent).
 
The rebounding edge was decisively Shippensburg's, as the Raiders out-rebounded the Vulcans by a 50-28 margin.
 
Senior John Castello posted his first double-double of the season and the 28th of his career. He tied a career high with 24 points, leading all players, to go along with a season-high 15 rebounds. No Raider had grabbed more than 10 rebounds in a game this season prior to Saturday. It is the 10th 20-point game of Castello's career.
 
Biss scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and had four assists. He scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half.
 
Shippensburg's bench out-scored Cal's, 28-2. Carter scored a season-high 12 points, marking his fourth career game in double figures. He was 4-of-8 from the field to go along with four rebounds and three assists. It was the third time in his career he hit multiple three-pointers in a game.
 
Junior Kiyon Hardy scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds and had two assists compared to just one turnover in 27 minutes of action. Redshirt-sophomore Dom Sleva also added eight points to go along with seven rebounds.
 
Sophomore Luke Nedrow had four points, five rebounds and two assists. Senior Lamar Talley and sophomore Carlos Carter each contributed three points.
 
Cal made its first two three-point attempts of the game but proceeded to make just 3-of-23 the rest of the way, finishing the game at 20 percent (5-of-25) from three-point range. The Vulcans shot 34 percent from the field in the second half and 39 percent for the game. Brent Pegram led the visitors with 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
 
The 19 turnovers committed by the Raiders in Saturday's game were more than in their previous two league games combined (17 spanning Slippery Rock and Edinboro). The victory helped SU improve to 35-2 at home over the last two-plus seasons.
 
Shippensburg returns to action after next week's final exams with a road match at Fairmont State. The Raiders will take on the Fighting Falcons at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17 from Joe Retton Arena.