In basketball, paint presence is crucial against powerhouse teams.
The Shippensburg University men’s basketball team lacked any dominance in the paint against Bloomsburg University Saturday afternoon during its 80–61 loss.
The Huskies outscored the Raiders in the paint 44–26. BU’s junior forwards Alssene Saintilus and Wes Lyons had a lot to do with the Raiders’ struggles.
Saintilus and Lyons both notched 16 points and four rebounds.
Four fouls were committed in the first half before a point was scored. The Huskies struck first and never looked back.
It took the Raiders just under five minutes into the game to score a point. Oliver Stroh knocked down his lone 3-pointer to pull the Raiders within one, 4–3.
Despite the sloppy play, the Raiders kept the game close until halfway through the first half.
The Huskies jumpstarted a dominant run to end the first half and led by as many as 13 points.
SU trailed at the half 32–19.
The Raiders came out of the break with a little surge, scoring four-straight points. Two of which came from Abe Massaley and the other two came from Tony Ellis.
The Huskies answered with four-straight points of their own. The Raiders were never able to regain composure and eventually fell by the wayside.
Despite the blowout loss, Joe Lococo notched 27 points, five assists and six rebounds. Lococo also knocked down three of his four attempts from the behind the arc.
Oliver Stroh also recorded a season-high 11 points in the Raiders’ fifth loss of the year.
The Raiders now look to bounce back when they travel to the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown on Dec. 17, to take on a mediocre Mountain Cat team. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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