The Shippensburg University men's basketball team went down to the wire at Clarion on Saturday and emerged triumphant, winning its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) game of the season with a 90-86 victory over the Golden Eagles at Waldo Tippin Gymnasium.
Shippensburg (6-6, 1-4 PSAC) got a career-high 27 points from
Jaydon Smith, who was a perfect 6-for-6 from three-point range, and a 26-point performance from
Markus Frank. Smith's performance marked the most made three-pointers by a Raider without a miss since Justin McCarthur set the all-time PSAC record (9-for-9) on Jan. 31, 2018 against East Stroudsburg.
SU finished 12-of-21 (57 percent) from three-point range – season bests for both makes and percentage – while shooting a season-best 54.1 percent (33-of-61) overall from the field. The Raiders started out the second half making 7-of-9 from three-point range, punctuated by the fourth three-pointer of the game by
Timmy Conner.
Despite the prolific offense and maintaining a lead for more than 30 minutes in the contest, Shippensburg needed a defensive stop in the final 20 seconds to stave off Clarion (7-7, 2-4). The Golden Eagles, trailing by two points, missed a pair of go-ahead three-pointers in their final possession. Smith rebounded the second miss and was fouled at the horn; he made two free throws after six-tenths of a second had been put back on the clock to create the final margin.
Neither team led by more than four points in a first half that featured 12 lead changes and seven ties. By game's end, the teams had exchanged the lead 16 times and played to nine tie scores. Despite the ever-fluctuating score margin, Clarion never led by more than two points.
SU's largest advantage was 13 points, 79-66, with 6:13 to play after Smith hit his sixth three-pointer. The Golden Eagles countered with an 18-3 run to take an 84-82 lead with 1:38 remaining. Clarion made 7-of-8 from the field during its run after starting out the second half by making just 2-of-11.
Denzel Figueroa made two free throws at the 1:17 mark to tie the score at 84-84, but a Raider foul on the ensuing possession put the Golden Eagles at the free-throw line with a chance to re-gain the lead.
Clarion had stayed in the game by excelling at the free-throw line. The Golden Eagles had made 25-of-31 (80.6 percent) free-throw attempts, including 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) in the second half, before missing both ends of the double bonus at the 1:02 mark. Smith grabbed the defensive rebound to set up an SU possession.
On the offensive end, Frank had a go-ahead layup bid blocked. He grabbed the rebound and missed the putback, but Smith rebounded it and was fouled while making a layup, resulting in a successful "and-one" with 36 seconds left.
Clarion converted a pair of free throws with 28 seconds remaining to get back within one point of the lead. Six seconds later, Figueroa was fouled and made 1-of-2 at the free-throw line to preface the aforementioned finish.
One day after committing a season-high 21 turnovers, Shippensburg matched its season low with just eight on Saturday – including just one turnover in the opening 12 minutes. SU had 18 assists and finished with a 21-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
In addition to career highs in points and three-pointers, Smith grabbed seven rebounds and matched his career high in free throws by going 5-of-5 at the line. It was his fourth 20-point game of the season and the sixth of his career.
Frank scored 10 points in the first four minutes of the game and contributed 20 points in the first half. He matched Smith for the team high in rebounds with seven and recorded three steals for the second straight game. Frank has posted double figures in every game this season and in 59 of his 68 career games. It was his third straight 20-point game and the 34th of his career.
Conner finished with 13 points, making 4-of-6 from three-point range. He converted a four-point play at the end of the first half that gave the Raiders a 47-45 halftime lead.
Figueroa delivered a season-high nine points, finishing 3-of-4 from the field and the free-throw line, and blocked two shots.
Michael Dickson, limited to 22 minutes because of foul trouble, had a game-high seven assists and two steals.
Jeremy Thomas II, a Shippensburg Area Senior High School alumnus, led the Golden Eagles with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Thomas II added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Justice Easter scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half and finished 5-of-8 from the field.
Saturday was SU's most efficient game from three-point range since producing the exact same output on Feb. 14, 2024 at Mansfield. It came after shooting 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) yesterday at Gannon.
Shippensburg returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bloomsburg for the Eastern Division opener.
