Gallery: (2-25-2026) 2025-26 Men's Basketball vs. Shepherd
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with regional rival Shepherd in a defensive clash Wednesday night but came up just short, dropping a 54-51 decision to the Rams in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division at Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (13-14, 8-12 PSAC) put forth a spirited defensive effort in the first half, limiting Shepherd (18-9, 14-6) to 15-percent shooting (5-of-33 from the field) and just 12 total points through the opening 18:30. The Rams went 0-for-13 from three-point range in first half.
The Raiders held their largest lead of the game, 30-12, with 90 seconds left before the intermission. The Rams countered with six consecutive points – four coming off back-to-back Raider turnovers – to cut their deficit to 12. A
Timmy Conner jumper beat the halftime horn and put Shippensburg ahead by 14 points at the break, 32-18.
After 14 consecutive misses from beyond the arc to start the game, Brody Davis and Colby White made three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to force a Raider timeout. A 10-2 run to start the second half trimmed Shepherd's deficit to just six points, 34-28, at 16:47.
Shippensburg weathered the counter by re-establishing its strong defense and stretched the lead back to 10, 42-32, with 11 minutes to go. The Rams responded with a 12-3 run over the next four minutes to get within one, 45-44, at the 6:37 mark. After an exchange of buckets, the Raiders still maintained a three-point lead, 49-46, at the final media timeout (3:28 remaining).
Shepherd's Favor Okigweh drove for a dunk coming out of the timeout, and after a pair of Raider misses, the Rams took their first lead, 50-49, with a stepback jumper by Marcus Banks at the 1:53 mark. It was the only lead change of the game.
Shippensburg missed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, and Banks responded by driving for a layup that gave the visitors a 52-49 advantage entering the final minute. The two teams then exchanged misses, allowing the Raiders to call timeout with 16 seconds left to set up a possession.
The Ram defense swarmed the perimeter after the in-bound, forcing Conner to dump the ball off to
Jackson Boone for a layup that made it a one-point game with 10 seconds left.
Shepherd successfully got the ball in off the make and Elwyne Wordlaw was fouled – he responded by making both free throws. Shippensburg's game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer was no good.
The contest had many of the common themes that permeate the long-standing rivalry. Turnovers were low (Shippensburg only committed seven, Shepherd eight) and free throws were similarly precious (the two teams combined to go 10-of-12 at the free-throw line).
Most of all, quality shots were hard to come by. The Raiders shot 36 percent (22-of-61) from the field, including 16 percent (3-of-19) from three-point range, while the Rams shot 34 percent (22-of-64), including 17 percent (4-of-23) from three-point range. Both teams scored 30 points in the paint.
The defensive performance by Shippensburg was its second-best field-goal percentage defense of the season, while the seven blocks it recorded (including three each by
Jaydon Smith and
Denzel Figueroa matched a season high.
It was the dichotomy of the first meeting this season between the two teams. In that matchup 23 days ago at Shepherd, the Rams shot 58 percent (32-of-55) – the highest rate by a Shippensburg opponent all season – while the Raiders shot a season-low 33 percent (21-of-64) from the field.
That game, an 84-57 Shepherd victory, was the only time in the last 12 contests in the overall series (dating back to 2020) that either team exceeded 80 points in a game. Wednesday night's game was the second time in the last four meetings that neither team scored more than 60 points.
Sixteen of Shepherd's 37 points that it scored in the first 31 minutes were of the second-chance variety. The Rams finished with 16 offensive rebounds and ended up with 16 second-chance points, while Shippensburg had 12 offensive rebounds but just nine second-chance points.
Lastly, over the final 9:19 of the game, Shepherd finished by making 8-of-10 from the field (after shooting 14-of-54 (26 percent) prior), while Shippensburg was just 4-of-15 in the same span. The Raiders were 1-of-8 from the field in the final four minutes, with the Boone layup being the only bucket.
Conner and Smith were Shippensburg's leading scorers in the game, each scoring 10 points. Smith was 5-of-11 from the field, while Conner was 4-of-7 (including 2-of-3 from three-point range). Figueroa had six points (on 3-of-6 shooting) to complement a season-high 11 rebounds and his three blocks.
Okigweh produced his sixth double-double in the last seven games, scoring 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting while grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. Banks finished one rebound shy of a double-double, matching Okigweh with 14 points, while recording three of the game's 10 total steals.
Wordlaw finished with 12 points off the bench (10 coming in the second half), while Daouda Traore grabbed 10 rebounds (six offensive) and was +13 from the field – the best plus/minus rate by any player in the game.
Shippensburg wraps its regular season at 3 p.m. Saturday at Lock Haven. The two teams are locked into the fifth seed (Shippensburg) and sixth seed (Lock Haven) respectively for the upcoming PSAC Tournament.
