The Shippensburg University men's basketball team rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half on Monday night to tie the score with five seconds left, but a Golden Bear free throw with 0.2 seconds left resulted in a 69-68 loss to host Kutztown in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup at Keystone Arena.
 
Shippensburg (12-5, 9-3 PSAC) and Kutztown (7-10, 4-7) kept it close early in the first half before a 25-13 Golden Bear run gave the hosts a 41-28 halftime lead. Kutztown further increased its lead, taking a 17-point advantage with 15:51 to play.
 
From that point, the Raiders outscored the Golden Bears 33-16 to tie the game with five seconds remaining off a pullup midrange jumper by graduate Jake Biss. With 0.2 seconds remaining, Kutztown's Jalen Bryant made his way to the other end of the floor and drew a foul. Bryant made the first and intentionally missed the second to prevent the Raiders from getting a shot off.
 
Redshirt-junior Rashon Johnson put up a game-high 20 points in his first start of the season. Johnson shot 7-of-15 from the field, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, and added six rebounds, an assist, a block, and a steal.
 
Senior Kiyon Hardy shot 6-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line to finish with 17 points, four rebounds, and a game-high four assists.
 
Biss had 16 points, three rebounds, three assists and a game-high four steals that tied his career high.
 
Redshirt-junior Dom Sleva grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, his fifth double-digit rebounding game of the season. Sleva had eight points, an assist and a steal.
 
Kutztown's Bryant had 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. Wesley Butler and Akeem Taylor Jr. each put up 15 points; Taylor had three steals, two rebounds, and an assist while Butler had three rebounds and two assists.
 
The Golden Bears shot 56 percent from the field in the first half and 32 percent in the second half. The Raiders shot 36 percent in the first half and 48 percent in the second half. KU was 24-of-32 at the free-throw line; SU was 15-of-25.
 
Shippensburg will host Bloomsburg at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Heiges Field House.