Box Score

Shippensburg, Pa. - Seniors Jason Blake and Alen Ahmetovic recorded double-doubles, but the Millersville men's basketball team saw Wednesday's PSAC Eastern Division contest at Shippensburg slip away late, 68-61.

The Marauders (6-10, 1-2 PSAC East) and Red Raiders (8-8, 1-2 PSAC East) were never seperated by more than nine points and they stood deadlocked at 31 at the half. But as has been the story all season for the Marauders, a promising first half turned into a frustrating second half.

Millersville followed a first half performance of 43.2 percent shooting by hitting just 7-of-32 field goals in the final 20 minutes. Despite the offensive struggles, the Marauders managed to stay close thanks to defensive pressure that forced 13 second-half turnovers.

Shippensburg started to pull away early in the second, breaking a 40-37 game open and building a nine-point lead with 13:39 left on a six-point run. Craig Van Scyoc, who made his first start of the season, drilled a three to cap the run and hit another three minutes later to keep Ship's lead at nine.

Millersville bounced back, though. Five points from Blake and a 3-pointer from Mike Seibert quickly slashed Shippensburg's lead to 51-50. The Marauders trailed by just three with 3:33 left in the contest after a Blake jumper, but it would be Millersville's last field goal of the game. The team's final four points over the  last three minutes came from free throws as the Marauders missed their last 10 field goals attempted.

The Marauders held a 36-32 edge in rebounds, scored 19 points off of turnovers and had two double-doubles in the same game for the first time this season. And even with 7-of-15 3-point shooting against the league's best 3-point percentage defense, the Marauders could not overcome 10-straight misses to end the game.

Blake finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. It was also the first for Ahmetovic, who totaled 11 points and 11 boards. Ahmetovic has totaled 21 rebounds in his last two games. Blake also extended his streak of consecutive games with double figures to five.

The loss denied Millersville coach Fred Thompson his 200th win, but Shippensburg snapped a four-game slide.

The Marauders return home to host Bloomsburg Saturday at Pucillo Gymnasium. Game time is 3 p.m.