SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Shippensburg University men's basketball team dropped an intense battle to No. 10 East Stroudsburg in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern division matchup, 85-73, on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Heiges Field House.
 
Redshirt-freshman Markus Frank led all scorers, dropping 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field. Frank had five rebounds, three steals and converted seven free throws. Sophomore Denzel Figueroa scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Figueroa matched his career-high with four blocks.
 
Senior Ty Holsopple had eight points for the Raiders on 4-of-9 shooting from the field. Holsopple grabbed eight rebounds, four of which were offensive. Junior Kyle Whippen had six points with 13 rebounds on the day and senior Satchel Ball went for five points and five assists.
 
Shippensburg (8-17, 4-15 PSAC) found a successful formula of outstanding defensive effort – led by Figueroa – and Frank's offensive exploits in the open court to get within four points of the Warrior late in the second half, but ESU managed to knock down key shots and converted 8-of-9 from the foul line in the final minutes to thwart the Raiders' strong upset bid.
 
East Stroudsburg (21-3, 15-3) forced 24 Shippensburg turnovers, thanks in part to a relentless full-court press. While the Raiders won the rebounding battle, outrebounding the Warriors 41-to-33.
 
A put-back dunk by Whippen kicked off an exciting first half that had three ties and three lead changes in the first 10 minutes. The Raiders held a 15-11 advantage with just under 12 minutes to play before a 10-0 run for the Warriors gave ESU a six-point lead.
 
The Warriors extended their lead to eight points with just under five minutes remaining, but an 8-3 stretch by the Raiders cut the deficit to three. The Warriors answered the run with a 6-0 run to close out the half to lead 36-27.
 
A three from East Stroudsburg extended its lead to 17 points with 12:52 remaining in the second half.
 
The ESU advantage was 13 points before a big and-one conversion by Figueroa with 6:44 left opened up another big run for the Raiders. Baskets from Frank and Whippen contributed to what became an 8-0 spurt to bring the Raiders within five points.
 
A tough two in the paint from Figueroa later cut the deficit to just four points, 71-67, with 3:53 remaining.
 
Lakeem McAliley led the Warriors with 16 points, despite fouling out at the 5:26 mark of the second half. Nasir Griffin knocked down 5-of-9 shot attempts including two threes for 15 points. Justin Paz reached double figures with 13 points.  
 
SU travels to West Chester on Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at the Hollinger Field House.