Gallery: (1-15-2026) 2025-26 Men's Basketball vs. Kutztown
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team held Kutztown to an opponent-season-low 39 percent from the field Thursday night to claim a 65-60 win over the Golden Bears in a back-and-forth Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division clash at Heiges Field House.
The victory is the 200th in the career of head coach
Chris Fite, currently in his 12th season leading the Raiders.
Shippensburg (7-9, 2-7 PSAC) opened the game on a 7-0 run but shot just 30 percent (10-of-33) from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Despite this, the Raiders trailed by just one point at the intermission, 27-26, as they committed only four turnovers in each half and posted a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (10:8).
Kutztown (4-9, 1-7), which entered the contest ranked second in the PSAC in field-goal percentage defense (42.1), staked out its largest lead, 42-34, with 14:55 remaining. SU countered with the next six points and eventually evened the score, 49-49, at the 8:14 mark.
Thursday's game featured eight ties and 12 lead changes. Three of those lead changes came in the final six-and-a-half minutes, as a
Markus Frank free throw gave the Raiders a brief one-point advantage, 52-51, with 6:14 left.
Kutztown's Kidd Brizek drained a three-pointer with 4:35 to go that gave the visitors a three-point lead, 56-53. That proved to be the final field goal of the game for the Golden Bears, as Shippensburg went on a 10-2 run to lead by five points entering the final 30 seconds.
Despite shooting just 60 percent (15-of-25) from the free-throw line, the Raiders made six straight beginning at the 2:12 mark to help put the game away. Kutztown also struggled from the charity stripe; it shot just 55 percent (12-of-22).
Both teams also had suboptimal nights from beyond the arc. SU was just 4-of-20 (20 percent) from three-point range; KU was 4-of-19 (21 percent).
The Raider defense limited the Golden Bears to 39-percent shooting overall, including just 34.4 percent (11-of-32) in the second half. After making 50 percent of its field-goal attempts in the first 25 minutes (17-of-34), Kutztown closed the game shooting 22.7 percent (5-of-22) in the final 15 minutes.
Frank finished with a game-high 23 points, scoring 14 in the second half. He was 8-of-15 from the field and 6-of-8 at the free-throw line.
Jaydon Smith scored 11 points, while
Michael Dickson added 10.
Denzel Figueroa continued his assertive play of late after his return from injury. Figueroa scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and led the team with three assists.
Despite no Raider grabbing more than six rebounds (Frank and
Jackson Boone tied for the team lead) and two Golden Bears posting double-digit rebounds, Shippensburg won the battle on the glass for the second straight game and fourth time this season, 43-39. Six different SU players had at least four rebounds in the contest.
Freshman
Emonte Hill Jr. provided seven pivotal minutes off the bench in the second half, running the point during a stretch in which SU out-scored KU by three. Hill did not attempt a shot but had an assist and drew a foul to help bridge the gap during Shippensburg's comeback.
Kutztown's Jordan Nkoa Abessolo finished with an impressive stat line of 15 points (7-of-12 shooting), 16 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. He had already achieved his double-double by halftime, having totaled 10 points and 11 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
Jalen Bryant, the league's No. 3 scorer entering the game, scored 16 points while playing all 40 minutes but was just 4-of-15 from the field. He made 6-of-8 at the free-throw line and had three assists. Tobi Ogunbare totaled 10 rebounds for the Golden Bears.
Fite's overall record is now 200-140 at Shippensburg, which equates to a .588 winning percentage. The Raiders have made eight PSAC Tournament appearances and three NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure. Fite joins the late Rodger Goodling (356-443 in 31 seasons [1970-2001]) as the only coaches in program history with 200 or more victories.
Shippensburg hosts East Stroudsburg at 3 p.m. Saturday as the men's and women's teams will host LIVE LIKE LEVI games at Heiges Field House.
