The Shippensburg University men's basketball team roared out of the gates in the second half Saturday as it won its third straight game, posting a 97-77 victory at Mansfield in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division contest at Decker Gymnasium.
Shippensburg (9-9, 4-7 PSAC) and Mansfield (1-17, 0-12) exchanged the lead 10 times and played to four tie scores in the opening 12 minutes; the Mountaineers never led by more than one point in that span but stayed close by making 12-of-17 two-point field goals in the first half. The Raiders led by as many as eight before taking a four-point advantage into halftime, 39-35.
Shippensburg began the second half with a 32-9 run, claiming its largest lead of the game (71-44) with 11:39 to go. SU was 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) in that span, using separate 8-0 and 12-0 runs to pull away.
The Raiders committed only one turnover in the entire second half – an intentional shot-clock violation with two seconds left – and finished with a season-low five turnovers for the game. SU outscored the Mountaineers 25-6 off turnovers.
Markus Frank scored 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 6-of-8 at the free-throw line. He also totaled four steals – bringing him over the century mark for his career (101 total). For Frank, it was his twelfth 20-point game of the season and the 38th of his career.
Michael Dickson totaled 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He grabbed five rebounds, matched a career high with five steals, and was one of four Raiders who had a game-high three assists.
Jaydon Smith matched Dickson with 16 points and three assists. Smith had an excellent first half in which he scored 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line.
Trey Martin provided seven points and four rebounds despite some first-half foul trouble.
Timmy Conner was 4-of-7 from three-point range off the bench.
Jackson Boone contributed seven first-half points.
After being outrebounded by Mansfield 20-11 in the first half, Shippensburg posted a 20-14 advantage on the glass in the second half.
The Mountaineers got a double-double from Sterling Scott (25 points, 11 rebounds) and 15 bench points from Darrien Berrios Rivera.
Shippensburg is scheduled to travel to Shepherd on Tuesday night for an 8 p.m. game at the Butcher Center, weather permitting.
For all the latest news and information regarding schedule changes, please be sure to visit the Shippensburg University Athletics website at
www.shipraiders.com.
