SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team could not get past No. 7 IUP on Sunday in the 2020 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship game, dropping a 77-59 decision to the Crimson Hawks at Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (24-7) trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half against IUP (28-2) but chipped away at its early deficit, getting to within four points of the lead with 16:38 remaining. The Crimson Hawks again bumped their lead out to 14 points at the midway point of the second half, but the Raiders were within five points with seven minutes to go.
IUP reserve Shawndale Jones, the 2020 PSAC Tournament MVP, scored 16 consecutive points for the Crimson Hawks in the second half – his jumper with 5:54 to go put the visitors up by nine points and SU could not get any closer the rest of the way.
Shippensburg shot 27.7 percent from the field, its lowest shooting output in a game since 2010. The Raiders finished 18 percent (5-of-27) from three-point range and 66 percent (18-of-27) at the free-throw line. The visitors shot 45 percent from the field, including 50 percent in the second half.
SU out-rebounded IUP by a 50-41 margin, marking the 24th time this season it has won the board battle against the opposition. The Raiders totaled 23 offensive rebounds and had 20 second-chance points, but the Crimson Hawks scored 34 points in the paint and had 19 points off 15 Raider turnovers.
Senior
John Castello led the Raiders with 13 points; he also had eight rebounds and tied a career high with three blocks. Junior
Jake Biss finished with 11 points and three assists.
Sophomore
Luke Nedrow scored eight points. Nedrow had a career-high three blocks Saturday and had another Sunday. Senior
Lamar Talley had five points, five rebounds and two blocks.
Sophomore
Carlos Carter chipped in seven points, while redshirt-sophomore
Dom Sleva had seven points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Junior
Kiyon Hardy scored five points, recorded three steals and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the contest.
Jones finished with a game-high 24 points for the Crimson Hawks; he was 10-of-14 from the field in 35 minutes off the bench. Armoni Foster, who had 28 points against ESU on Saturday, finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Malik Miller, the PSAC West Player of the Year, scored all 16 of his points in the first half.
"You have to give IUP credit," head coach
Chris Fite said after the game. "They're a great team on both ends of the court and their guys really stepped it up and played a great game. We just didn't have answers for them."
Shippensburg competed in the PSAC Championship game for the fourth time in school history and the first time on its home floor. The Raiders are now 2-2 all-time in the PSAC Championship game (win over Kutztown in 2017 (73-63 at IUP), loss to Edinboro in 2006 (52-51 at West Chester) and win over Slippery Rock in 1991 (76-75 in double overtime).
"I'm sure across the board on our side, including myself, we would've like to have performed a little bit better, but I don't think that diminishes or takes anything away from what our team has accomplished this year and how our guys have battled," Fite said.
The NCAA Selection show airs at 10:30 p.m. tonight on ncaa.com.
