Gallery: (1-8-2025) 2024-25 Men's Basketball vs. Kutztown
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team could not complete a second-half comeback on Wednesday night as it dropped a 77-73 decision to Kutztown in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game at Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (5-9, 3-5 PSAC) trailed by 17 points midway through the second half but got all the way back within one possession with 39 seconds to go after a layup by redshirt-sophomore
Markus Frank. The Raider defense forced a turnover on the ensuing possession but the go-ahead three-point attempt was no good. The Golden Bears got the rebound and ended up making two free throws on the other end to lead by four.
Another layup by Frank with 20 seconds left got SU back within two points. The visitors once again turned it over on the ensuing possession, giving the Raiders another shot to tie it, but a pass went awry and out-of-bounds. The Golden Bears then made two free throws to clinch it.
Kutztown (4-9, 1-6) led 14-7 in the first half before a 14-0 run put Shippensburg up by seven. SU led 29-21 at the under-8 media timeout of the first half when the game underwent a seismic shift – the Raiders were held scoreless for the next 7:34 until junior
Trey Martin made a basket in the final 30 second of the half. The 16-0 Golden Bear run gave the visitors a 37-31 halftime lead.
That momentum continued out of the intermission – a quick 6-0 run made it a 12-point game and resulted in a Raider timeout. KU led 59-42 with 10:08 left before SU began chipping away down the stretch.
Frank led the Raiders with 26 points, scoring 13 points in each half. He was 8-of-18 from the field and 10-of-13 at the free-throw line. His 10 free throws tied a career high achieved on four other occasions, while his overall scoring total marked his eighth 20-point game of the season.
Martin stepped up once again with 14 points – his fourth straight game with eight or more points and his fifth time in double figures this season. In 39 minutes of action he was 6-of-10 from the field and grabbed four rebounds.
Junior
Donovan Hill was limited to six first-half minutes due to foul trouble yet finished with 14 points and eight rebounds while matching a career high with five assists. It was Hill's eighth game in double figures this season.
Freshman
Jaydon Smith was once again a full-court presence. Smith scored eight points, equaled a career high with seven rebounds, led the team with six assists, and shattered his career high with five steals.
Kutztown got a game-high 29 points from Jalen Bryant, who was sent to the free-throw line 15 times and made 14 of his attempts. The rest of his teammates combined to go 3-of-5 at the line. Bryant drew 11 fouls and finished 7-of-21 from the field (1-of-8 from three-point range). Charlie Bell IV helped off the bench; he drained three three-pointers and led the visitors with four assists.
The Golden Bears were keyed by their post players, as Tyler Koenig (19 points, nine rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting) and Jordan Nkoa Abessolo (10 points, 10 rebounds, 5-of-10 shooting) combined for eight of their team's 15 offensive rebounds. Kutztown finished with 21 second-chance points and out-rebounded the Raiders, 40-29.
SU shot 46 percent in each half and finished 14-of-18 (77.8 percent) at the free-throw line. Kutztown shot 44 percent.
Shippensburg travels to Tioga County this weekend for a 3 p.m. Saturday matchup at Mansfield.
