The Shippensburg University men's basketball team erupted for 59 points in the second half Wednesday night to claim its first victory of the season, winning 90-74 at Wilmington (Del.) in an 8 p.m. tip at the WU Athletics Complex.
 
Shippensburg (1-2) shot 53 percent from the field, including 22-of-33 (67 percent) in the second half. SU won the rebound battle by six, scored 50 points in the paint and posted a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (17-to-15).
 
Redshirt-sophomore Markus Frank led all players with 29 points on 13-of-21 shooting. All of Frank's field-goal attempts came inside the three-point line. Frank added a season-high nine rebounds and was 3-of-5 at the free-throw line. Frank also blocked three shots.
 
Playing in his 49th career game Wednesday night, junior point guard Timmy Conner broke through with three new career highs. Conner scored 22 points, including a very nice 6-of-9 rate from three-point range, and contributed five assists. His previous single-game bests were 16 points, four three-pointers and three assists.
 
In the second half, Conner scored 17 of his 22 points (making 5-of-6 from three-point range) and had all five of his assists.
 
Junior Donovan Hill was all over the glass and achieved his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career. Hill scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out four assists.
 
Junior Denzel Figueroa had another strong effort off the bench, finishing with nine points (4-of-6 shooting) and seven rebounds. Fellow junior Trey Martin contributed eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
 
Shippensburg led 31-29 at halftime. SU fell behind 8-2 in the first 75 seconds of the game, after which head coach Chris Fite called a timeout. The Raiders responded by holding the Wildcats to just six points over the next nine minutes of play, as a 17-6 run helped erase the early rut.
 
After going 0-for-3 from the free-throw line in the first half, Wilmington (1-2) made four free throws in the opening minute of the second half to take a 33-31 lead. It capped off an 11-0 run for the Wildcats that dated back to the final four minutes of the first half; SU led 31-22 with 3:57 to go before the intermission.
 
Overall, it was a 19-3 run for the hosts as Wilmington took a 41-34 lead with 17:18 to go.
 
Shippensburg immediately countered, embarking on a 16-1 run to lead 50-42. With 13:27 remaining, Fite called a 30-second timeout with SU up by five, 50-45.
 
From that point forward it was all Raiders. A Conner three-pointer and a Frank layup put SU back up by 10, and with 9:55 to go, SU led 65-49. It stretched all the way to a 23-point lead, 81-58, with 5:40 left.
 
Wilmington got 21 points from Justin Perez, 16 of which came in the first half. Perez was 5-of-6 from three-point range while the rest of his teammates were 3-of-19 (15.8 percent) from three-point range. Izaiah Credle had 13 points, making 8-of-12 at the free-throw line.
 
The Raiders have now won six straight meetings in the overall series. Last season, Shippensburg won at home in overtime, 81-77. Two years ago, SU won at Wilmington, 71-68.
 
Shippensburg returns to action at 7 p.m. Monday when it hosts Chestnut Hill at Heiges Field House.