Gallery: (1-24-2024) 2023-24 Men's Basketball vs. WCU
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team fell to West Chester, 88-73, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup on Wednesday night at Heiges Field House.
Redshirt-freshman
Markus Frank dropped 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line to lead all scorers in the game. This was Frank's second game this season with at least 30 points.
Junior
Kyle Whippen recorded his third double-double on the season, and second in the previous three games, with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Whippen also added two blocks to his totals.
Sophomore
Donovan Hill set career highs with 12 rebounds and four assists.
West Chester (11-6, 7-4 PSAC East) shot 48 percent (37-of-77) as a team compared to Shippensburg's (5-12, 2-10) 46 percent (27-of-59). The Golden Rams scored 22 points off turnovers and scored 18 second-chance points. WCU took care of the ball well, working 15 assists with just six turnovers.
Three-pointers by Recchia and Frank kicked off the scoring for Shippensburg, but both teams traded scores early on. Tied at 6-6, Frank scored the next six points in the game for a 12-6 lead. West Chester immediately responded with a 14-2 swing to take a six-point lead.
West Chester continued to pour it on, extending its lead to 41-22 with just under three minutes to go in the half. The Raiders found some momentum late with a 12-4 run to close out the half capped off by a full-court heave by Hill at the buzzer, cutting the deficit to 45-34.
Both sides went back-and-forth to open the second half, but West Chester found its stride again with another 14-2 run in just over four minutes of play to take a 63-42 lead.
Shippensburg used a 13-3 run to cut the deficit as low as 13 points, but the Golden Rams closed out the final few minutes to secure a comfortable win.
Graduate
Andrew Recchia had six points, three rebounds and two assists. Sophomore
Timmy Conner added six points.
Robert Smith led the Golden Rams with 27 points. Joshua Walker and Jordan Kellier each recorded a double-double. Kellier scored 17 points with 11 rebounds and Walker scored 14 points with 10 rebounds.
SU hosts Lock Haven on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tipoff at Heiges Field House.
