Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG, PA – Julian Sanders (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) and Ashton Smith (Scarborough, ON/West Hill Collegiate) combined to shoot 15-of-21 from the field, including 9-of-12 from three-point range, scoring 41 points as IUP used a big first half en route to an 80-64 win over Shippensburg in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover men's basketball matchup on Sunday afternoon.

Even though the Crimson Hawks held a big advantage at the half, it was Shippensburg that jumped out to a lead to start the game, going up 9-4 at the 16:07 mark.

IUP then got back into the game, as a layup by Sanders jumpstarted an 8-2 run as the Crimson Hawks took a 12-11 lead two minutes later. Sanders would hit a three during the run, as would Smith, however the Raiders responded with a three of their own by Craig Van Scyoc along with a pair of free throws to go back on top 16-12 1:20 later.

Sanders and Smith again went to work, hitting a three followed by an open jumper before getting back-to-back layups by Devante Chance (Philadelphia, Pa. /Electrical & Technology Charter) to go on top 21-18 with less than 10 minutes to go in the half. The Crimson Hawks would later go on top by eight points at 30-22 after a layup by Josh Wiegand (Whiteford, MD/John Carroll) before a three-pointer by Shippensburg's John Corrigan and a layup by Reggie Charles cut the Raiders deficit to three with less than four minutes to go.

That would be the closest the Raiders would come, as the Crimson Hawks went on a 10-1 run, capped by a three by Smith, and later got a trey from Kevin Jones (Washington, DC/Bishop O'Connell) as time expired to head into the half ahead 45-31.

IUP started the second half with a bang, going on a 20-6 run, getting three three-pointers from Sanders and another from Smith as the Crimson Hawks took a commanding 65-37 with under 14 minutes to go.

The Crimson Hawks would later lead by as many as 33 en route to the easy 16-point victory.

Sam Pygatt led the Raiders with 15 points off the bench, with Will Royal adding 11 points and eight rebounds and Dane Lauber tossing in 10 points.

In addition to his 20 points, Smith grabbed five rebounds while Sanders had four. Chance came off the bench to score 10 points in 25 minutes, shooting 4-of-6 from the field and dishing out seven assists. Wiegand went a perfectr 5-of-5 from the field, scoring 13 points in 19 minutes.

IUP had an efficient day shooting the ball, connecting on 10-of-20 three-point attempts and 10-of-14 chances from the charity stripe, while shooting 56.6 percent from the floor.

The Crimson Hawks (4-0) return to the court after a two-week break on December 3-4, hosting PSAC East opponents Bloomsburg and Mansfield at the Memorial Field House.