|
Complete
Box Score
EDINBORO, PA – Saturday’s
Edinboro-Shippensburg men’s basketball was a showdown for
first place in the PSAC West as the first half came to a close,
with both teams entering the contest with 5-0 records. A 15-0 run
did in the visiting Fighting Scots, as Shippensburg took over sole
possession of first place in the PSAC West with a 59-47 win.
Edinboro falls to 14-7 overall and sees its
eight-game winning streak come to an end. Shippensburg, ranked
eighth in the East Region, improves to 17-4 and 6-0 in the
conference. For Edinboro, the 5-0 start was the best in league
play since 1974-75, while Shippensburg had never won its first
five PSAC contests. Shippensburg is now 23-1 at Heiges Field House
over the last two years, with the lone loss to Edinboro last year.
After a first half in which the Fighting Scots
jumped out to an early 17-6 lead thanks to a 13-0 burst, the first
half tightened to 25-22 Edinboro at intermission. The second half
was tight until the closing moments when the Red Raiders pulled
away. There were four ties and five lead changes in the second
half, with Edinboro claiming its final lead at 45-43 with 3:41 to
play on a layup by Daren Tielsch (McKees Rocks, PA/Montour).
From there it was all Shippensburg, as the Red
Raiders outscored Edinboro 16-2 the rest of the way. Todd Johnson’s
three-point play gave Ship the lead for good at 46-45 with 3L34
remaining and started the Red Raiders on the 15-0 run. Jamal
Williams scored six of his 12 points during the run, with Johnson
adding five of his 12 markers. The Scots went from the 3:41 mark
to just 11 seconds remaining without a basket. During that span
they were 0-for-4 from the floor, 0-for-2 from the line, and
turned the ball over three times.
The game featured two of the top four teams in
the PSAC in defense, and it showed. Shippensburg, ranked first in
the conference in both scoring defense (58.8 ppg.) and field goal
percentage defense (38.7 pct.), and eighth in both nationally,
held Edinboro to its lowest point total since a 48-45 loss to
California(Pa.) at the end of the 2003-04 regular season. The
Fighting Scots were held to 38.9 percent from the floor, and
Shippensburg wasn’t much better at 41.4 percent. The
difference was that the Red Raiders shot 53.8 percent in the
second half, making six of their final seven shots, as opposed to
31.3 percent over the first twenty minutes.
Tielsch posted his 12th double-double of the
season with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but he was the only
Fighting Scot in double figures, and he was just 1-for-6 from the
line. In fact, Edinboro made just 1 of 8 from the charity stripe.
Shippensburg, meanwhile, was 11 of 18. The Scots held Chuck Davis,
who came in ranked second in the PSAC in scoring at 20.7 ppg., to
13 points.
Edinboro returns to action on Wednesday,
February 8 as second half action in the PSAC West begins. The
Fighting Scots host Slippery Rock in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. |
