The Shippensburg University men's basketball team built a 14-point halftime lead Wednesday night and led by as many as 22 points in a 79-65 victory at Shepherd in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup at the Butcher Athletic Center.
 
Shippensburg (18-8, 15-6 PSAC) led took a 12-11 lead six minutes in and did not trail the rest of the way, limiting Shepherd (12-15, 8-13) to 24 first-half points and 21-percent shooting from three-point range in the game. SU also had 19 assists to Shepherd's six, and the two teams combined to commit just 11 turnovers.
 
Graduate Jake Biss led the Raider offense for the second straight game with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range. At halftime, Biss had already scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting (4-of-6 from three-point range). He also added four assists. It's the second time in three days that Biss has scored 20 or more points in the first half.
 
Redshirt-junior Rashon Johnson scored 27 points, two short of his career high, on 10-of-16 shooting (2-of-4 from three-point range). He added six rebounds and two assists.
 
With a first-half dunk, Johnson surpassed 1,000 career points in college. He totaled 606 points in two seasons at Highland (Kansas) Community College before arriving at Shippensburg in 2020.
 
Junior Carlos Carter shot 4-of-9 from the floor for 12 points and totaled a career-high six assists. He added five rebounds, a block and a steal.
 
Redshirt-junior Dom Sleva recorded second consecutive double-double and his seventh of the season with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
 
Senior Kiyon Hardy had five assists, three rebounds, and two points.
 
Shepherd's Kyle Daggett put up 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Aidan Hughley dropped 14 points, and Jarrod Robinson had 12 points and five rebounds.
 
Shippensburg will close out the regular season at 3 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Kutztown at Heiges Field House for Senior Day.
 
SU is currently the No. 3 seed in the PSAC Eastern Division entering the season's final game. It can get as high as the No. 2 seed, which would be obtained with a win Saturday over Kutztown and an East Stroudsburg loss at West Chester (SU holds the tiebreaker over ESU by virtue of its win at Millersville, the No. 1 seed).
 
There is the possibility of a three-way tie atop the Eastern Division (Millersville loses Saturday to Lock Haven, East Stroudsburg loses Saturday to West Chester, Shippensburg wins Saturday over Kutztown). In this scenario, Millersville would be the No. 1 seed (3-1 combined vs. SU and ESU), Shippensburg would be the No. 2 seed (2-2 combined vs. MU and ESU), and East Stroudsburg would be the No. 3 seed (1-3 combined vs. ESU and SU).
 
If Shippensburg earns the No. 2 seed, it would receive a first-round bye and host a home game Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Heiges Field House.
 
If Shippensburg remains the No. 3 seed, it would host a first-round home game Monday at 7:30 p.m. against either Shepherd or Lock Haven.