The men’s basketball team capped off their best season since 2006 and clinched a home playoff game with an 84-77win over their rival Bloomsburg University last Wednesday night at Hieges Field House.

It is a rare case scenario when a team gets to play their eventual playoff opponent for home court advantage on the final game of the year, although this was the case at senior night at Hieges. In the wake of the Make-A-Wish events in the previous game, the men tightened their focus on the Huskies behind the support of an unusually large Shippensburg crowd.

Shippensburg’s new-look senior night lineup featured seniors Marcus Williams, Tony Ellis, Jay Hardy, AJ Maun and Junior Abe Massaley. The senior squad got the ball rolling for the Raiders early on in the game. Off the opening tip-off win from Williams, Massaley took the ball across the timeline and found a cutting Tony Ellis, who spun to the basket and kissed it off the glass for the opening two points of the game. Bloomsburg then matched Shippensburg with a layup of their own. Although after a couple fruitless possessions by both squads, it was Williams off a nice feed from Hardy who slammed the ball home, electrifying the Shippensburg faithful. The squad built a 6-3 lead before the majority of them were subbed out.

The game continued on much like the first matchup between Bloomsburg and Shippensburg, with Shippensburg holding the lead and plenty of trash-talk along the way. It was not until the 8:50 mark of the first half, which the Huskies drew even with the Raiders off of a Wes Lyons free throw. Bloomsburg would go on a 13-8 run over the next three minutes, but Ship drew even at 34 before the half ended. The Raiders shot 0-for-9 from three-point range in the first half.

The Huskies held control of the game out of the gates in the 2nd half pacing them selves to a seven-point lead at the 10-minute mark. With the Huskies once again building an eight-point lead, it was a Justin McCarthur jumper to cut Bloomsburg’s lead to 6. It was only a sign of the events to come.

With 7:30 remaining in the final stanza, McCarthur took over the game. McCarthur, who only had two points in the first half, caught the ball in the corner and drained a three for the Raiders. A mere 25 seconds later off of a Bloomsburg turnover, it was McCarthur again hitting the shot from long range. All of the sudden the Husky lead was down to two.

He was not done, though. two minutes later, after drawing within two once more off of a pair of Dustin Sleva free throws, it was McCarthur from three again. This time, his efforts gave Ship their first lead since midway through the first half. 34 seconds later, it was McCarthur for a fourth time from downtown to increase the Raider lead to four.

Bloomsburg would not go away quietly, though. The Huskies stayed close on Ships tail over the next two and a half minutes leading up to a Malik Garner three-pointer with 2:09 remaining. The Shippensburg lead was now only one.

Then, with the ball in McCarthur’s hands once more, he found a wide-open Sleva in the corner, who converted the bucket, giving the Raiders four point lead. The trio, McCarthur, Sleva and Massaley, shot 8-8 from the free throw line to seal the deal for the Raiders, and clinch home-court for Saturday’s rematch versus Bloomsburg.

After the game, Coach Chris Fite talked about the importance of getting home court.

“It’s huge. We haven’t lost a home game since early in December, and we play well here... But if we don’t come and play the way we’re capable of, we can lose anywhere.”

The opportunity for one last home game is something that Shippensburg senior, Jay Hardy, relishes as well,

“It means everything honestly… Last year, my first time being in the playoffs, we were on the road in Kutztown and ended up losing, sadly. But this year being at home, with the crowd and everything, I’m excited.”

The win is puts the rivalry series at 4-4 over the last eight. Shippensburg’s senior squad did everything they could to get the victory, combining for 22 points and 16 rebounds on the night.

McCarthur tied a career high on the evening, finishing with 22 points, 20 of which came in the second half. His four 2nd half three-pointers were a large reason why Ship finished the game with a respectable 28.6 percent shooting from three point range. McCarthur has now made it 7 of his last 8 with double-digits in the second half.

Despite this trend, Fite stated that it is not something he engineers.

“I’d like to say it’s been apart of my master plan, but it’s not,” said Fite. “For what ever reason it seams that as the game gets tighter and later, he seems to want to step up and make those big shots.”

Ellis finished with 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds along the way. Massaley scored 12 points and dished out 5 assists.

The Raiders will be in action again Saturday at 3 p.m. to take on the Huskies one last time this season. This will mark the two teams third matchup of the season with each taking one game along the way. 

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