EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team out-scored host East Stroudsburg by a 46-29 margin in the second half on Wednesday night to post an 86-74 victory over the Warriors in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Quarterfinal at Koehler Field House.
Shippensburg (21-8) advances to the PSAC Semifinals for the fifth time in the last six seasons under head coach
Chris Fite and will play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Western Division No. 1 seed IUP – the Crimson Hawks are currently ranked No. 2 in the Atlantic Region and No. 3 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll.
East Stroudsburg (19-8) led for most of the first half and had a 10-point advantage, 38-28, at the 5:02 mark. SU got within five points at halftime, with the Warriors leading 45-40. ESU shot a blistering 68 percent from the floor in the first half, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. Carlos Pepin scored 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting. Redshirt-junior
Rashon Johnson had 15 points at the half for the Raiders.
In the decisive second half, Shippensburg shot 54 percent from the floor, including 62 percent (5-of-8) from three-point range. SU's transition game worked well as it outscored ESU 23-6 in points off turnovers.
The Raiders held a four-point lead, 65-61, with 7:06 to play. A 15-5 run over the next five minutes, kickstarted by eight consecutive points by junior
Carlos Carter, cinched the victory. SU led by as many as 17 points in the final 90 seconds.
Shippensburg's starters scored all 86 of its points, and all five starters totaled 14 or more points.
Graduate
Jake Biss shot 5-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, to finish with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. This is Biss' seventh straight game in which he has led or tied for the lead in points for the Raiders.
Carter matched Biss with 19 points. He shot 7-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point range, to go along with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Fourteen of Carter's 19 points came in the second half.
Johnson shot 7-of-13 from the field for 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a late block while being limited to 29 minutes because of foul trouble.
Senior
Kiyon Hardy shot 6-of-11 from the field for 17 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Redshirt-junior
Dom Sleva shot 4-of-5 from the field (2-of-3 from three-point range) for 14 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block.
Freshman
Michael Dunn and senior
Youssef Diabate combined for 17 minutes off the bench.
The Raiders were 20-of-29 (69 percent) at the free-throw line while the Warriors were 14-of-23 (61 percent). Rebounds were at a premium, with SU posting a 27-26 advantage in the statistic.
Pepin finished the game 11-of-13 from the floor, including 3-of-3 from three-point range for 25 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists. Troy Jones shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-2 from three-point range for 17 points, two assists and one block. Lakeem McAliley put up ten points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Both teams finished the game shooting 55 percent or better from the field. ESU was 8-of-16 (50 percent) from three-point range.
Wednesday was the first time that Shippensburg faced East Stroudsburg in the PSAC Tournament since an 85-71 win in the 2017 PSAC Quarterfinals and was just the second time that the two teams faced each other in the PSAC Tournament since 1980.
Shippensburg, competing in the PSAC Tournament for the seventh consecutive season, will renew acquaintances with the Crimson Hawks on Saturday at the Kovalchick Convention & Athletic Complex (KCAC). It will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams; SU handed IUP one of its two losses this season with a 72-60 victory at the KCAC on Dec. 19.
The two teams played each other in the 2020 PSAC Championship game, a contest that IUP won at Shippensburg, 77-59. SU last played at IUP in the PSAC Tournament in 2017, defeating the host Crimson Hawks 90-87 in overtime in the semifinals before eventually winning its second conference championship in school history.
More information about the weekend will be posted in the next 36 hours to shipraiders.com.
