Gallery: (1-17-2026) 2025-26 Men's Basketball vs. ESU
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Michael Dickson made a go-ahead jumper with 8.9 seconds remaining Saturday to propel the Shippensburg University men's basketball team to an 82-80 victory over longtime rival East Stroudsburg in a thrilling Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup at Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (8-9, 3-7 PSAC) never trailed by more than four points in a contest that featured 10 lead changes and nine tie scores. Seven of those ties came in a seesaw second half in which both teams also exchanged the lead in the final 77 seconds.
The Raiders opened the game by consistently beating the patented Warrior press, scoring the game's first seven points and leading by a game-high 14-point margin, 25-11, at the 12:10 mark.
East Stroudsburg (12-5, 6-4) countered with the biggest scoring run of the game, a 12-0 spurt, and gained its first lead (31-30) with 4:49 left in the first half. The Raiders took a one-point lead into halftime, 39-38.
SU led by as many as seven points in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. A 16-8 run gave the Warriors their largest lead of the game, 66-62, with 8:04 left.
A pivotal stretch of play ensued, as a spirited 11-0 run put the Raiders up seven, 75-68, entering the game's final 5:30.
Shippensburg's lead was six, 78-72, when East Stroudsburg rallied with seven straight points. A Carson Howard layup put the visitors up one, 79-78, with 1:17 left.
Dickson was sent to the line on the ensuing possession and made both free throws to put the Raiders back up one, 80-79. Howard was then fouled on the opposite end of the floor but made just 1-of-2 free throws, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
Down to just three seconds on the shot clock, Dickson gained some slight separation from his defender and launched a high-lofting jumper from just inside the arc that hit nothing but net. The Warriors in-bounded the ball and got across midcourt before calling timeout, and two potential game-tying shot attempts went for naught before the buzzer.
Shippensburg posted a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (15 assists, 13 turnovers) against an ESU team that entered Saturday ranked No. 11 in the nation in turnovers forced per game (18.1).
The Raiders also maximized its offensive efficiency. SU shot 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field, its second-highest rate of the season, while attempting a season-low nine three-pointers (making four). It was also 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) at the free-throw line, also the team's second-best rate of the season.
No Raider player had achieved a double-double or a 10-rebound game this season entering Saturday, but
Jackson Boone ended that trend with a spirited performance in 20 minutes off the bench.
Boone scored a career-high 12 points while equaling his career high of 10 rebounds. It is his first double-double and second double-digit scoring game as a Raider. He was 3-of-3 from the field, including his first career three-pointer, and 5-of-7 at the free-throw line.
Dickson finished with 14 points, making 6-of-6 at the free-throw line, to go along with a team-high five assists.
Jaydon Smith scored 13 points on 5-of-7 from the field while adding four assists and two steals.
Markus Frank delivered his 11th 20-point game of the season, reaching that total on 7-of-15 from the field and 5-of-5 at the free-throw line. Frank added six rebounds and two assists.
Overall, 10 different Raiders scored points.
Trey Martin chipped in with five points and matched Smith with four assists;
Ben Rill added seven points and four rebounds.
East Stroudsburg got a double-double from Jalen Pichardo (10 points and 10 rebounds) and a game-high 12 points from Adrian Brito. The Warriors shot 48.5 percent (32-of-66) overall but just 47.4 percent (9-of-19) at the free-throw line and 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from three-point range.
It is the second straight one-possession game between the two teams at Heiges Field House; last year's meeting in Cumberland County was a 90-87 overtime win for the visitors.
Shippensburg is off on Wednesday; its next match is 1 p.m. Saturday at Mansfield.
