The Shippensburg University men's basketball team could not get past a vigilant Kutztown squad on Wednesday night, as it dropped a 72-66 decision to the Golden Bears in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division clash at Keystone Arena.
Shippensburg (12-12, 7-10 PSAC) got a game-high 22 points from
Jaydon Smith, who was 7-of-12 from the field and 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. Smith has totaled 52 points in his last two games, which includes making 21-of-22 at the charity stripe.
Kutztown (6-15, 3-13) shot 47.5 percent from the field and committed just five turnovers. The Golden Bears made 8-of-10 shots in the final 7:08 of the first half to take a seven-point lead into halftime, 40-33. KU shot 55 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
SU countered with an 8-0 run to start the second half, yet it never gained a lead larger than one point the entire night. A Josh McKoy three-pointer gave the hosts a 49-45 lead with 13:04 remaining, and despite a back-and-forth pace, the Raiders were not able to reduce their deficit below four points down the stretch. A scoreless run that spanned from 3:55 to the 37-second mark proved insurmountable to overcome.
Timmy Conner, starting in place of an injured
Markus Frank, scored 13 points on 3-of-8 from three-point range.
Trey Martin had a hot start and reached double figures for the second time this season; he finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting (2-of-3 from three-point range) and added six rebounds.
Michael Dickson managed just five points but handed out seven assists (six in the first half) and tied
Jackson Boone for the team high with seven rebounds.
Ben Rill and
Sebastian Edwards combined for 12 points off the bench.
McKoy (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Jordan Nkoa Abessolo (15 points, 10 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for the Golden Bears. Five Golden Bears finished in double figures, including Kidd Brizek – who scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half.
Shippensburg returns to action at 3 p.m. Saturday at East Stroudsburg.
