Men’s basketball: Raiders denied first PSAC victory

Tweet

When you play tough teams in basketball shooting percentage is everything. A team needs to score points when the opportunity arises.

Shippensburg University men’s basketball team posted a less than impressive field goal percentage in Wednesday night’s 62–58 loss to Kutztown University. SU managed just a 28.57 field goal percentage in the first half.

The Raiders’ efficiency did not improve much after halftime, as they shot 37.5 percent from the field.

Despite the shooting troubles, second year starters Tony Ellis and Joe Lococo kept the Raiders in the game, both posting double digit score totals.

The Raiders managed to lead the Golden Bears by six points with 5:38 left in the first half when Lococo knocked down a long range three-point attempt. The lead was the largest SU saw all night.
Lococo registered 18 points and seven rebounds during the Raiders’ loss.

Ellis dominated in the paint and was flawless from the charity stripe, sinking all four of his attempts.

The sophomore guard finished the game with a season-high 20 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for his first double-double this year.

The Raiders held on to a slim two-point lead with 1:20 left in the game after Lococo sank another jumper, but the lead was quickly erased when KU’s Ryan Connolly knocked down a 3-pointer. The Golden Bears added three more free-throw attempts to close out the late game run and seal the victory.

Redshirt freshman Marcus Williams had another dominant night on the boards, gathering 13 rebounds for SU. Williams leads the Raiders with 138 total rebounds so far this season. So far this year Williams is averaging 8.63 rebounds per game, ranking him second in the PSAC behind Seton Hill’s Malachi Leonard.

Raider Sam Pygatt contributed eight points on 4-of-8 from the field.

SU continues to look for its first division win on Saturday at Millersville University to take on a 7–9 Marauder team. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.