Men's Basketball | 3/11/2017 6:12:00 PM

Box Score
Shippensburg Postgame
Virginia Union Postgame

By Duane Cochran for FightingFalcons.com
FAIRMONT – It didn't take second-seeded and ninth-ranked Shippensburg (Pa.) University long to establish its dominance here Saturday afternoon against seventh-seeded Virginia Union in opening round of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional at the Joe Retton Arena.

The Raiders raced to a 15-point lead just over seven minutes into the game and never looked back as they cruised to a 79-59 victory.

Shippensburg, which never let its initial double-digit lead fall into single digits for the remainder of the game, improved to 27-3 and will face sixth-seeded Wheeling Jesuit (24-7) in the semifinals of the regional Sunday at 5 p.m. The Cardinals upended third-seeded West Liberty in overtime Saturday, 96-95.

Virginia Union, which lost its third consecutive game, finished its season with a 22-8 record.

Shippensburg used quick on-target passes and pinpoint shooting from the perimeter to help earn the school's first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament win. The Raiders had 25 assists on 30 field goals and connected on a school-record 18-of-38 3-point field goals en route to their 20-point win.

"I'm really proud of the way our guys played and competed today," Shippensburg coach Chris Fite said. "We've had a few games down the stretch here with teams that press you, try to disrupt you and don't let you get settled into anything. Today, Virginia Union played that way and our guys, I thought, dealt with it pretty well for the most part. We shared the ball, made good decisions and made shots."

Junior forward Dustin Sleva led the Raiders with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He scored 15 of his points and grabbed eight of his rebounds in the opening half as Shippensburg established a 36-28 lead at the break. The 6-8 Sleva finished 5-of-6 from 3-point range.

"All year we've struggled keeping a lead and that was something we harped on a lot coming into today," Sleva said. "When we got up 18-3 we were like don't give it up. We gave up a 20-point lead against IUP twice and 20-point leads to other teams who shouldn't have been in the game with us.

"We almost gave up some runs today, but we stayed with it and kept attacking and that helped a lot."

Shippensburg also got 15 points from Justin McCarthur, 14 points from John Castello and 10 points from Antonio Kellem.

Virginia Union played 13 players in the game, but only Ray Anderson was able to reach double figures in the scoring column. The senior guard finished with 10 points, while Kory Cooley and Trayvon Brown added eight points apiece for the Panthers.

"You've got to tip your hat to Shippensburg," Virginia Union coach Jay Butler said. "They played a great game and shot lights out. Anytime you can hit 18 threes in a game, I mean we tried every defense in the book and it didn't work. They did a great job of moving the basketball. They played unselfish basketball and they found the hot hand.

"They go through No. 12 (Sleva). He's a special kind of player because he's a post player, but he can step out and hit the three and he did that today."

The Panthers' 59 points tied their season low which came in a 74-59 loss to Virginia State.

Shippensburg, which won its sixth straight game, shot 46.2 percent from the field for the game (30-of-65) and out-rebounded the Panthers 41-34.

"We just never got over the hump today," Virginia Union's Anderson said. "We never gave up. We felt if we could get it under 10 we could make a run. Every time we made a run they had an answer and every time we needed to get a stop we couldn't get one. The lead just kept increasing."