lucarotti brings the ball up
Matt Durisko
60
Winner Shippensburg Shipp 5-5,3-1 PSAC
56
Gannon Gannon 0-8,0-4 PSAC
Winner
Shippensburg Shipp
5-5,3-1 PSAC
60
Final
56
Gannon Gannon
0-8,0-4 PSAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Shippensburg Shipp 28 32 60
Gannon Gannon 34 22 56

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Lucarotti Leads the Way with 17 Points in Narrow Loss to Shippensburg

ERIE, Pa. – Michael Lucarotti (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) scored a season-high 17 points as Gannon came up just short in a PSAC crossover contest against Shippensburg on Monday night at Highmark Events Center. The Golden Knights wrap up the 2022 portion of their home schedule at 0-8 overall and 0-4 in PSAC play, with three of the losses coming in the final minute or overtime and six by eight points or less. Shippensburg evened its record at 5-5 while improving to 3-1 in league play.

Playing for the second straight day Gannon came out on fire and jumped out to a 32-18 lead against a Shippensburg team picked to finish second in the PSAC East. Lucarotti and Demetrius Mims (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) each scored 10 points, with Mims' jumper with just under four minutes remaining giving the Golden Knights their largest lead of the night at 32-18.

Unfortunately, Gannon would score just one more basket the rest of the half, that on Ronny Raphael's (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) drive just before the buzzer, as the Raiders scored 10 points in a row to pull to within 34-28 at intermission.  

Gannon shot 50.0 percent (15-of-30) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, but baskets were hard to come by in the second half as the Golden Knights went 8-of-26 (30.8 pct.) in the second half.

The Golden Knights maintained the lead until a pair Dom Sleva free throws gave the Raiders a 39-38 lead with 16:45 to play. Donovan Forte's (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights) short jumper gave the lead back to Gannon but Shippensburg used a 14-2 run to take its biggest lead of the night at 55-45 with 6:33 remaining. Sleva accounted for five of the points.

For the second straight day the youthful Gannon squad refused to fold and came roaring back with an 11-0 run to regain the lead. Thomas Whitley (Laurel, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) started the run with a 3-pointer and Chris Clancy (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) followed with another triple. Lucarotti followed with another three and when Raphael hit a fadeaway jumper in the lane Gannon was back on top 56-55 with 2:43 remaining in the game.

Gannon would not score again, however. Rashon Johnson came back down and gave Shippensburg the lead for good with a 3-pointer and neither team would score for the next two minutes. Clancy's steal gave the ball back to Gannon with 38 seconds to play. Whitley's baseline 3-pointer missed but Forte grabbed the rebound and Gannon called timeout with nine seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play they were called for an over-and-back. Sleva sealed the win with a pair of free throws.

Gannon ended the night shooting 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, making 8-of-17 3-pointers. The Golden Knights held Shippensburg to 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the floor, including 4-of-15 on 3-pointers. The difference came at the charity stripe, which proved not to be charitable for the Golden Knights. The Raiders were 10-of-11 at the line while Gannon attempted just four free throws, making two.

With Sleva pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds, Shippensburg held a 37-30 advantage on the glass. Gannon committed 12 turnovers and Shippensburg 13.
Lucarotti, a redshirt freshman guard, enjoyed his finest outing as a Golden Knight, making 7-of-8 field goals, including all three 3-point attempts, while also leading the team with six rebounds. Mims added 10 points and five rebounds but was limited in the second half with foul trouble.

Whitley, another redshirt freshman, scored a season-high nine points, making 3-of-7 3-pointers, and matched his season high with five rebounds. Raphael, a freshman point guard, added eight points and three steals.

Shippensburg had four players in double figures as the foursome accounted for all but two of their points. Sleva had a double-double with 18 points and 14 boards, with Johnson also scoring 18 points. Luke Nedrow had 12 points and seven rebounds while Carlos Carter finished with 10 points.

Gannon once again played short-handed with three players in the regular rotation out with injuries. First-year players accounted for 34 of Gannon's 56 points. The Golden Knights will now have the Christmas break to hopefully get healthier before returning to action on Friday, December 30 at Lock Haven.    
 
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