SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — The Shippensburg University men's basketball team outlasted Mercyhurst on Saturday, 59-51, to claim a tightly-contested Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Semifinal at Heiges Field House and advance to Sunday's league championship game.
 
Shippensburg (24-6) and Mercyhurst (20-8) exchanged the lead 11 times, with neither team leading by more than eight points. A slow-tempo first half saw the Lakers achieve their largest lead of the game at five points, 7-2, at the 12:31 mark.
 
The Raiders led by one point at halftime, 25-24. Its lead remained within two possessions until the 11:37 mark in the second half when redshirt sophomore Dom Sleva pushed Shippensburg's lead to seven with a three-pointer.
 
Junior Kiyon Hardy and sophomore Carlos Carter scored crucial buckets down the stretch to push the Raiders out in front for good. Hardy hit a three-pointer off a feed from sophomore Luke Nedrow with 3:30 to go that made it 57-49 in SU's favor.
 
Junior Jake Biss (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) led all Raiders with 13 points and five assists. Senior John Castello registered his 39th career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Carter finished with 12 points.
 
Shippensburg shot 36.7 percent from the floor and went 10-of-12 at the free throw line. Castello, Nedrow and senior Lamar Talley were strong in the lane; the Raiders scored 30 points in the paint and had 17 second-chance points.
 
Laker sophomore MiyKah McIntosh led all scorers with 20 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the floor. The Lakers shot 40.7 percent from the floor — an identical 11-of-27 in both halves.
 
Shippensburg will host IUP at 3 p.m. Sunday in the PSAC Championship Game at Heiges Field House.
 
It is Shippensburg's fourth appearance in the conference championship game and the second under head coach Chris Fite. Shippensburg defeated Kutztown in 2017 (73-63 at IUP), lost to Edinboro in 2006 (52-51 at West Chester) and defeated Slippery Rock in 1991 (76-75 in double overtime).