The Shippensburg men’s basketball team dropped to second place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division after losing a physical match with Millersville University 55-51.
The Raiders were held to just 32 percent shooting from the field and just 19 percent from behind the three-point line in the game.
Millersville took a 26-25 lead into halftime after holding the Raiders to 10-33 shooting from the field including 2-14 from three-point range in the first half.
SU would not go away however as they stayed within five points of the Marauders the entire second half. The final 10 minutes of the game saw the score stay close by one possession.
With the score tied at 51-51, Millersville’s Justin Nwosu sank a go-ahead jumper from the corner to give the Marauders a two-point lead with 1:09 remaining in the contest.
The Raiders could not make up the deficit in the final minute as they missed three field goal attempts to tie and committed two costly turnovers. Nwosu made two free throws in the waning moments to create the final scoring margin.
Redshirt-junior Dom Sleva put up a game-high 16 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Fellow redshirt-junior Rashon Johnson also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Johnson also had a game-high three steals.
Junior Carlos Carter added 13 points and pulled down five boards.
The backcourt of graduate Jake Biss and senior Kiyon Hardy combined for just nine points on 3-15 shooting.
SU head coach Chris Fite relied heavily on his starters in the game, as the bench combined for just eight minutes and scored zero points.
Millersville moves into first place of the PSAC Eastern Division by a half game with the victory, as we move into the final stretch of the PSAC regular season.
The Raiders will return to the court on Wednesday as they will host West Chester University at 8 p.m. at Heiges Field House.
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