Shippensburg University men’s basketball team fell twice this past week to the Mansfield Mountaineers last Wednesday and the East Stroudsburg Warriors last Saturday. The results moved the Raiders to an 8-17 record overall, with a 4-15 record in PSAC play.
Wednesday’s game showed a high-scoring battle at Decker Gymnasium. Five Raiders posted double digits. Redshirt freshman Markus Frank led the high scoring with 15 points. He currently ranks sixth in the PSAC in scoring with 462 points. Junior Michael Dunn also had an impressive outing. He had a perfect night of shooting, going 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from outside the arc.
The Raider offense took an early lead following the opening tip, going up 9-3 after a three from graduate guard Andrew Recchia. Mansfield quickly answered back and held a 10-point lead before heading into the half.
Mansfield maintained its lead for the second half and led the Raiders by 29 points. The threes from Mansfield’s Michael Dickson and Scott Woodring were no match for the Raiders, and even with their best effort, the final score was 102-85.
Saturday afternoon, the Raiders honored their three seniors on Senior Day: Satchel Ball, Ty Holsopple and Mamadou Toure. The festivities ignited a fire in Shippensburg for the first half.
Junior Kyle Whippen quickly posted the first two points with a put-back dunk for the Raiders. He had six points on the day with 13 rebounds. Shippensburg, however, had a tough battle with East Stroudsburg’s high pressure defense and committed 24 turnovers.
Defensively, sophomore Denzel Figueroa had a great game. He matched his career-high with four blocks and was able to find Markus Frank on two impressive exploits on the open court. Despite Shippensburg’s efforts to maintain a close scoring deficit, the Warriors led the Raiders by over 10 points for most of the second half.
The Raider’s fell to Warriors 85-73. The team’s seniors both played well considering the upsetting loss. Holsopple had eight points for the Raiders shooting 4-of-9 from the field and Ball went for five points and five assists.
The Shippensburg men’s basketball team’s next game is away at West Chester on Wednesday, Feb. 21. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m.
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