The Shippensburg University men's basketball team dropped a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup at Slippery Rock on Tuesday night, 93-77, at Morrow Field House.
Shippensburg (4-5, 1-3 PSAC) held an early 15-14 lead at the six-minute mark but Slippery Rock (3-6, 2-2 PSAC) scored 41 points over the final 15 minutes of the first half to take a 49-33 lead into halftime. SRU shot 52.5 percent in the first half on 21-of-40 shooting from the field. SU shot 35 percent on 12-of-35 shooting.
Redshirt-junior
Ty Crespo scored eight points including two threes in the first five minutes that gave Shippensburg an early 10-6 lead and forced a Slippery Rock timeout. The hosts then outscored the Raiders 18-9 in a 4:22 span to take a 24-19 lead at the 11-minute mark. The Rock continued to hit its stride with a 10-0 run just moments later to take a big 36-22 lead with just under eight minutes remaining.
The Raiders cut the lead to 12 points with 10:32 remaining, but SRU maintained its double-digit advantage for the entirety of the second half. Slippery Rock responded to a big three by junior
Michael Dunn with a 12-1 scoring run to take its biggest lead of 23 points.
Slippery Rock shot 51.2 percent overall from the field, outrebounding the Raiders 47-35. SRU scored 54 points in the paint and got 37 points from the bench, including a team-high 20 points from Ike Herster.
Crespo led all scorers with 23 points, his third 20-point effort of the season. Crespo shot 8-of-19 from the field and 4-of-8 on three-point shooting. Redshirt-freshman
Markus Frank finished with 22 points, his fifth 20-point effort of the season. Frank shot 10-for-19 from the field, adding eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Sophomore
Trey Martin added 11 points for the Raiders, his fourth time in double figures. Graduate
Andrew Recchia provided six assists on the day. Junior
Kyle Whippen tallied three blocks.
For Slippery Rock, Herster, Lashon Lindsay and Maceo Austin all finished in double figures.
Shippensburg returns to action Saturday, Dec. 30 for a 3 p.m. tipoff against Edinboro at Heiges Field House.
