EAST STROUDSBURG -- Trailing by 15 at halftime, the East Stroudsburg University men's basketball team used a furious comeback to get within three points early in the second half, but ultimately could not keep up with hot-shooting Shippensburg in a 72-58 loss on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Shippensburg remains in first-place PSAC East with a 14-5, 11-3 conference record. ESU's five-game winning streak is snapped, as the Warriors drop to third place in the East Division behind the Raiders and Marauders with an 11-6, 9-4 record in PSAC action.

The contest served as ESU's annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Game. ESU and Shippensburg coaches both donned sneakers in efforts to This week, coaches across the country are uniting for a common cause – saving lives from cancer. Learn more at suitsandsneakers.org. The event was played in memory of ESU's Ryan Smith, who tragically passed away in March 2021 after a 19-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia. Many supporters wore orange in support of leukemia awareness.

Notables

• Marc Rodriguez led the Warriors with 13 points. The Philadelphia native also grabbed five rebounds.
• Carlos Pepin and Troy Jones also reached double-figures, scoring 11 points each. Pepin led ESU with seven rebounds.
• Mike Millsip and Justin Paz added seven and six points, respectively. Paz led ESU with four assists.
• Ship was led by Rashon Johnson (27 points), Jake Biss (18 points) and Dom Sleva (11 points and 10 rebounds).
• The Raiders shot an efficient 30-of-60 from the floor and held ESU to 23-53. The game was won for the Raiders beyond the arc, with Ship making nearly 50 percent of its attempts from long range (8-19), while holding ESU to just 17.6 percent (3-17) from 3-point land.

How It Happened

• The two squads went back-and-forth from the start, trading points to start the contest. With the score tied at 16-16, the Raiders would take control, closing the half on an 23-8 run to take a 39-24 lead into the locker room.  
• ESU came out of the locker room strong, immediately starting the second half on a 20-8 sprint to cut the deficit to just three points at 47-44 with 12:05 remaining. During the stretch, ESU shot 7-13 from the field and limited the Raiders to just 4-of-15 during the near eight-minute stretch of clock.
• Unfortunately for ESU, the Raiders would not allow the Warriors to retake the lead, as a 19-6 run would lift Ship back to a 16-point lead at 66-50 with just 5:34 remaining. The game-altering stretch saw the Raiders shoot an impressive 8-of-11 over the six minute stretch. The Warriors could not counter, as five turnovers and a 2-6 mark from the field saw the Ship lead increase
• The Warriors outscored the Raiders 8-6 over the final five-plus minutes, as Shippensburg would hold on to win, 72-58, at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Up Next

ESU hopes to start a new winning streak at Bloomsburg on Monday night. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. inside Nelson Field House. The contest is a makeup-date from January 10, which was postponed to due healthy and safety precautions due to COVID-19.

After trips to Bloomsburg, Kutztown (Feb. 2), and Millersville (Feb. 5), ESU returns to Koehler Fieldhouse to face Kutztown on Mon., Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.