Shippensburg University’s men's basketball team picked up its third straight win Saturday afternoon, posting a 97-77 victory at Mansfield in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division contest at Decker Gymnasium.
Shippensburg (9-9, 4-7 PSAC) and Mansfield (1-17, 0-12) exchanged the lead 10 times and played to four tie scores in the opening 12 minutes.
The Mountaineers never led by more than one point in that span but stayed close by making 12-of-17 two-point shots in the first half. The Raiders led by as many as eight before taking a four-point advantage into halftime, leading 39-35.
Shippensburg began the second half with a 32-9 run, claiming its largest lead of the game (71-44) with 11:39 to go. SU was 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) in that span, using separate 8-0 and 12-0 runs to pull away.
The Raiders committed only one turnover in the second half — an intentional shot-clock violation with two seconds left — and finished with a season-low five turnovers for the game. SU outscored the Mountaineers 25-6 off turnovers.
Redshirt junior Markus Frank scored 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 6-of-8 at the free-throw line. He also totaled four steals, bringing him over the century mark for his career (101 total). For Frank, it was his 12th 20-point game of the season and the 38th of his career.
Redshirt junior Michael Dickson totaled 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He grabbed five rebounds, matched a career high with five steals and was one of four Raiders who had a game-high three assists.
Sophomore Jaydon Smith matched Dickson with 16 points and three assists. Smith had an excellent first half in which he scored 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line.
After being outrebounded by Mansfield 20-11 in the first half, Shippensburg posted a 20-14 advantage on the glass in the second half.
The Raiders finished with a .522 in field goal percentage and shot .500% from three-point range. The Mountaineers finished with .491 and .333, respectively.
Shippensburg has a pair of home games scheduled for this week, both at Heiges Field House. They will play Lock Haven at 8 p.m. on Thursday before hosting Bloomsburg at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
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