Gallery: (2-10-2024) 2023-24 Men's Basketball vs. Kutztown
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team turned in a dominant performance against Kutztown on Saturday afternoon with a 93-52 win in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division clash at Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (8-15, 4-13 PSAC) built a 47-27 halftime lead and controlled the rest of the game. The Raiders did not trail at any point in the game and all players who featured got on the scoreboard.
SU shot 52 percent, going 31-of-60 in the game. The Raiders went 10-of-21 (48 percent) from three and were 21-of-26 from the line. SU scored 40 points in the paint, 22 points on fast-breaks, and managed 20 points from 12 offensive rebounds.
The Raiders held Kutztown (3-20, 2-15) to just 31-percent shooting on the day. The Golden Bears shot 20-of-64 from the field and were 4-of-18 (22 percent) from behind the arc. The Raiders dominated the glass, winning the rebound battle 51-29. SU had 17 assists as a team.
Redshirt-freshman
Markus Frank led all scorers with a 23-point effort; 17 of which came in the first half. This was his ninth game at the 20-point mark this season. Frank shot 7-of-12 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line with five rebounds and a block.
Junior
Kyle Whippen scored 17 points with seven rebounds and three assists. Whippen was 6-of-8 on the day and 5-of-6 from the foul line.
Sophomore
Donovan Hill earned his third double-double of the year with an 11-point, 12-rebound effort. Hill has averaged 11.1 rebounds in the last seven contests. Hill was 4-of-8 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range – equaling his career high in threes.
Junior
Michael Dunn scored eight points, knocking down 2-of-3 threes. Sophomore
Timmy Conner went for seven points and had three assists. Senior
Ty Holsopple came off the bench and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in just nine minutes.
Sophomores
Trey Martin and
Denzel Figueroa each went for six points – both drained a three. Martin matched a career high with six rebounds. Junior
Satchel Ball had a team-high four assists.
The game started with a driving finish from Frank. The Raiders held a small advantage through the first five minutes before small runs allowed SU to pull away. Baskets by Whippen on consecutive possessions gave SU a 12-6 advantage with 15:31 remaining.
Leading by three, the Raiders went on a 9-2 run to take a double-digit at 26-16 midway through the half. SU continued to dominate the half, finishing the final seven minutes on a 16-7 run for a 20-point halftime lead.
Free throws from Frank and Whippen opened the second half to give Shippensburg a 51-27 lead. Kutztown knocked down two free throws, but a three by Hill extended the lead to 25 points. The Golden Bears put together a 9-2 run after the three by Hill to cut the lead to 58-40 with 13:46 remaining.
The Raiders got the momentum back with a big alley-oop by Whippen on a lob from Conner. Free throws and a basket by Dunn quickly restored the Raiders 25-point lead with 10:13 remaining. The run continued to 17-0 after consecutive baskets from Frank and threes by Recchia and Dunn. Overall, Shippensburg finished the final 12 minutes of the ball game on a 33-10 run.
Kutztown's Brent Ricketts Jr. led the Golden Bears with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
SU is on the road at Mansfield on Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at the Marion Decker Gymnasium.
