Michael Dickson erupted for 22 of his career-high 31 points in the second half on Sunday as the Shippensburg University men's basketball team responded with a wire-to-wire victory over Bluefield State, 79-60, at Frostburg State's Bobcat Classic.
Shippensburg (1-1) flipped the script from its season-opening performance Saturday with a resurgent defensive effort while maintaining its efficient shooting.
SU opened the game 8-of-12 from the field to lead 19-8 at the 10:39 mark and 36-23 at halftime. The Raiders out-rebounded the Big Blue by 11 in the first half (21-10) and limited them to 28-percent shooting from the floor.
Bluefield State (0-2), a 19-win squad last season that reached the CIAA Tournament Finals and qualified for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large qualifier, got within eight points of the Raiders in the opening four minutes of the second half.
Dickson responded with five points in 25 seconds. He hit a pull-up jumper on the offensive end and then recorded a steal on the defensive end. After the theft, he dribbled down the floor and hit a pull-up three from the top of the arc to make it a 13-point game.
The Big Blue did not get any closer than nine points down the stretch, as SU used a late 9-2 run to cement its advantage.
Dickson led Shippensburg in points (31), rebounds (eight), assists (five) and steals (two). He is the first Raider to be the sole team leader in all four categories in a single game since Carlos Carter (20-10-2-4) on Feb. 22, 2023 at Shepherd.
Overall, Dickson finished 10-of-18 to match his career high in field goals; he was 3-of-7 from three-point range. His previous career high of 27 points was achieved against Shippensburg while playing for Mansfield on Jan. 27, 2024.
In the second half, Dickson's 22 points came on 6-of-12 shooting and a perfect 8-of-8 at the free-throw line. Dickson scored, or assisted on, the team's first 13 points of the second half.
Markus Frank had 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and had seven rebounds.
Timmy Conner had another solid effort with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, highlighted by a 3-of-5 effort from three-point range.
Jaydon Smith had six points, five rebounds and four assists.
Denzel Figueroa made his sixth career three-pointer among his six points, while
Jackson Boone contributed five points and five rebounds.
Ben Rill made both his field-goal attempts in his collegiate debut.
Bluefield doubled its field-goal percentage in the second half by shooting 14-of-25. Myles Pierre had 11 of his team-high 17 points in the second half.
The Raiders finished with a 38-24 rebounding advantage and had a 17-6 edge in second-chance points.
Shippensburg returns to action at 8 p.m. Wednesday with its home opener, a non-conference clash with Chestnut Hill at Heiges Field House.
