Men's Basketball | 1/18/2023 10:06:00 PM
Box Score BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The men's basketball team battled with a tough Shippensburg squad during a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division contest Wednesday inside the Nelson Field House, but some late scores during key possessions were enough to lift the Red Raiders to a 77-68 victory over the Huskies.
The contest started with a tight first half that saw two lead changes and neither team lead by more than two possessions. Then in the second half, the Huskies (0-14, 0-10 PSAC East) answered every scoring run put forth by the Red Raiders (10-6, 8-2 PSAC East) with some clutch shots of their own – including a pair of back-to-back buckets
Ash Kemble (Myerstown, Pa./Fork Union Military Academy) to bring Bloomsburg to with four points with under four minutes to play. However, the Huskies went cold from the floor from that point and Shippensburg's Rashon Johnson and Carlos Carter combined to score the team's final 10 points as the senior duo helped the Red Raiders go on a 10-4 scoring run to put the game away.
Carter and Johnson scored 16 points each for Shippensburg, and Dom Sleva was the team's highest scorer with 22 points. Johnson also had a double-double with 12 rebounds to go along with four assists.
Bloomsburg's
Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) had himself a day and played a big part on the offensive end for the Huskies, leading all scorers with a career-high 24 points to go along with nine rebounds. Wild and Kemble also finished in double figures, totaling 12 points each. Additionally, Wild led the Huskies with four assists.
Nelson's big day began from the opening tip as the senior forward scored Bloomsburg's first eight points. Nelson would finish the half with 14 points as he, Wild and Kemble combined to score 27 of Bloomsburg's 31 first-half points.
The Huskies took their only lead of the game with 11:36 remaining in the first half, but the back-and-forth contest saw the Red Raiders regain the lead and take a 34-31 lead into halftime after Satchel Ball knocked down a field goal as time expired in the closing seconds of the opening frame to put Shippensburg up by three.
In the second half, Nelson tied the game up at 42-42 four minutes into the frame, but Shippensburg responded with a quick 9-0 scoring run and threatened to run away with the game. However, Bloomsburg answered with a scoring run of its own and brought the game back within three after Kemble scored on a fast break to make it 53-50.
Later in the half, Shippensburg was able to go back up by nine after making it a 68-59 contest with 4:57 to go. Kemble, again, brought the game back to near even after he hit a three-pointer and two-point field goal to make the score 68-64. After that, the Red Raiders received its last 10 points from Carter and Johnson to close out the game and win 77-68.
Bloomsburg finished the game shooting a modest 45.8% (27-59) from the floor and 71.4% (5-7) from the charity stripe. The Huskies also knocked down nine shots from three-point range, going 9-23 for the game (20%).
Shippensburg shot an identical 45.8% (27-59) from the floor and 82.6% (19-23) from the free-throw line. From three-point range, the Red Raiders were 4-for-20 (20%).
The win lifts Shippensburg to the No. 2 spot in the PSAC East standings with an 8-2 conference record. Lock Haven (11-4, 7-3 PSAC East) fell to third place with a 73-68 loss to West Chester (11-5, 6-4 PSAC East) on Wednesday, and East Stroudsburg (14-2, 8-2 PSAC East) sits on top of the division standings.
Bloomsburg will be back in action on Saturday with a contest at Seton Hill (10-6, 4-5 PSAC West). The game is scheduled to tip off at 3:00 PM after the women's game at 1:00 PM.
