Shippensburg Athletics
Bill Morgal
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men’s basketball team went down to the final horn with Chestnut Hill for the second straight year, with the Griffins claiming Monday night’s non-conference showdown by a 71-69 score from Heiges Field House.
Shippensburg (1-3) and Chestnut Hill (2-2) faced off Monday night nearly one year to the day of the last meeting between the two teams in which redshirt-sophomore Markus Frank (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) hit a buzzer-beater to defeat the Griffins at Sorgenti Arena by the exact same 71-69 score.
Monday’s madcap finish between the two teams featured three lead changes in the final 36 seconds. IV Pettit hit a three-pointer in front of the CHC bench and was fouled on the play to put the Griffins up 68-67. Pettit missed the ensuing free throw, and on the other end, Frank slashed to the rim and scored a lay-up to put the Raiders up 69-68 with 21 seconds left.
Chestnut Hill called timeout, and on its possession, Omari Salvi came around a screen and made his first three-pointer of the night after six previous misses – giving the visitors a 71-69 lead.
With only four seconds left, the Raiders raced down the floor and got all the way to a rim. Freshman Jaydon Smith (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) was fouled on a lay-up attempt with one second left on the clock. Initially, the officials called goaltending on the play – which tied the score and would’ve given Smith the opportunity to give SU the lead with a free throw.
However, after an official’s review, the call was reversed to erase the goaltend – putting Smith at the free-throw line for two attempts.
The first free-throw attempt was missed. After calling its final timeout, SU missed its second free-throw and the resulting carom rolled out-of-bounds as the clock expired – only to have the officials convene and put 0.4 seconds back on the clock.
The Raiders in-bounded the ball and Frank attempted a jumper at the buzzer from around the free-throw line that bounced in and out of the cylinder – officially giving the Griffins the win.
SU led by 13 points in the final minute of the first half before the Griffins scored the final five points to cut their deficit to eight at the intermission. Chestnut Hill got within three points early in the second half before the Raiders went on a run – a 9-0 spurt that gave Shippensburg its largest lead of the game, 55-41, with 11:46 left.
The Griffins immediately countered with a 12-0 run, making the score 55-53 with 8:26 to go. SU maintained its lead until the 3:26 mark when Pettit hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 63-63. The only Griffin leads of the second half came in the game’s final minute.
Frank led all scorers with 32 points on 14-of-22 shooting from the field. He scored 18 of his 32 points in the second half and added eight rebounds.
Smith enhanced his career high to 11 points, shooting 4-of-8 from the field, and added three rebounds and two blocks. No other Raiders were in double figures.
Junior Donovan Hill (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin (Niagara)) scored seven points – all in the first half – and recorded a game-high 13 rebounds. Fellow junior Denzel Figueroa (New York City, N.Y./Carver Engineering & Science (Pa.)) had eight points and six rebounds off the bench.
Redshirt-freshman Gabriel Romero-Sanz (Berkshire, England/Bracknell and Wokingham College (IUP)) contributed three points, three rebounds and three assists in a productive 15 minutes off the bench. Junior Timmy Conner (Frederick, Md./Linganore) had six points and five rebounds.
Alejandro Redondo Cybak was a force in the paint for the Griffins with 19 points (on 8-of-14 shooting) and 11 rebounds. Pettit also scored 19 points for the visitors; he was 5-of-10 from three-point range. Salvi, who missed the last two seasons due to injury, finished with nine points and five rebounds. Neal Hill was also a key contributor for Chestnut Hill; he did not score a point but grabbed 12 rebounds and had four assists.
The Griffins were 10-of-31 (32 percent) from three-point range and 11-of-13 (85 percent) from the free-throw line while the Raiders were 3-of-17 (18 percent) from three-point range and 6-of-11 (55 percent) at the free-throw line. SU outscored CHC in the paint, 50-28. Shippensburg shot 44.8 percent from the field while Chestnut Hill shot 36.8 percent.
Both teams each committed just six turnovers.
Shippensburg hits the road for its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action of the season this weekend with a crossover out west. The Raiders return to action at 5 p.m. Friday at IUP.