Men's Basketball | 3/12/2017 11:13:00 PM

Box Score
Wheeling Jesuit Postgame
Shippensburg Postgame

By Duane Cochran for FightingFalcons.com
FAIRMONT – Sunday's NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional semifinal between second-seeded and No. 9 ranked Shippensburg (Pa.) University and sixth-seeded Wheeling Jesuit was everything it should be and more.

In the end, however, Wheeling wiped out a 15-point Shippensburg lead during the final 12:37 by outscoring the Raiders 41-20 to record a hard fought 97-91 victory and advance to its first-ever NCAA Regional final Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. at the Joe Retton Arena. Wheeling will face top-seeded Fairmont State which eliminated fourth-seeded Indiana (Pa.) University, 84-68.

"It was a hard fought basketball game that's for sure," WJU head coach Danny Sancomb said. "Shippensburg has a really good basketball team which is really hard to guard. You could see that from the first 28 or 29 minutes of the game. We didn't have an answer to stop them. They were very efficient. They execute well. They screen well. They shoot well and they pass well and it was a little bit of a struggle for us being down 15.

"We called timeout and our guys rallied. We made them miss some shots and we did a great job in the second half of limiting them to one shot. Offensively we were able to get it going, we were efficient down the stretch and we made the plays we needed to make to get the win. It was a total team effort from our guys and a gritty win for us."

The first half between the Cardinals and Raiders was a joy to watch. The half featured three ties and the teams took turns trading the lead 18 times before WJU separated itself and took a 48-44 advantage to the halftime locker room.

In the second half, however, Shippensburg came out determined. The Raiders connected on eight of their first 10 field goals, including four-of-six from 3-point range and went a perfect seven-of-seven at the foul line as they outscored the Cardinals 27-8 in the first 7:05 to open a 15-point, 71-56, lead.

Wheeling, however, regroup and found an answer. During the next eight minutes led by Haywood Highsmith and Preston Boswell, the Cardinals went on a 27-12 tear of their own to knot the game at 83 with 4:55 to play

"It started for us on defense," said Highsmith, who led WJU with 26 points and seven rebounds. "Coach called 10 and we wanted to pressure them and see if they could handle it. Coach talks about defense turning into offense and that's what happened for us. We got some stops, some turnovers and got some fastbreak points and layups off of those and that's what got us going and helped our confidence."

Point guard Jarin Hilson, who added 15 points for Wheeling, agrees.

"Our energy we got from our defense definitely transitioned into offense for us," Hilson said. "Basically in the first half we wanted it and that's what got us going and got us the lead. When we want it on defense our offense gets going. In the second half we turned up the pressure again and it worked for us. We were able to limit them to one shot and we forced them to take tough shots. They still made some, but when we got going in transition we got back in it and then when we did have to run our half court sets we were patient, shared the ball and got good shots ourselves."

Wheeling, whose bench outscored the Raiders 25-0 in the win, closed the game with a 14-8 run to record the seven-point victory. The Cardinals also got 21 points from Boswell, 17 of which came in the game's final 15:45. Pat Moseh added 17 points and 10 rebounds for WJU, while Kyle Ritz chipped in 12 points and eight boards.

Shippensburg placed five players in double figures themselves. The Raiders got 22 points, six boards and six assists from Dustin Sleva, 21 points from Justin McCarthur, 19 points from both Abe Massaley and Antonio Kellem and 10 points from John Castello.

"It's disappointing," Shippensburg head coach Chris Fite said. "We had a great year and a great run. I felt like for a good part of the evening we got ourselves in a good position to win this game, but a lot of things went against us down the stretch and unfortunately we came up a little short.

"I've got nothing but pride and love for my team. Our guys have been committed to one another and our school and they exceeded my expectations by far. They raised the bar for Shippensburg basketball and hopefully we can keep moving forward."

Wheeling and Fairmont State met twice during the regular season. The Falcons won both meetings, 95-92, in overtime in Wheeling on Nov. 30 and 97-86 in Fairmont on Feb. 1.