Box Score
BLOOMSBURG—Trevon Johnson (Snow Hill, MD/Snow Hill) made a clutch layup with 38 seconds remaining to tie the game, but his efforts were not enough, as the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team fell to Cheyney University, 83-81, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action Saturday afternoon. The Huskies slip to 10-14 (6-6 PSAC East) on the year with the loss, while the Wolves improve to 16-8 (6-6 PSAC East).
Neither team was able to break lose in the first half. The Huskies took a five-point lead at 13-8; it would become their largest advantage of the half. The Wolves led by five at two points: first at 22-17 then again at 37-32. At the end of the period, Cheyney held a narrow edge at 39-38.
John Schwarz (Delta/Perry Hall) had a strong half, tallying nine points on 4-5 shooting from the field. As a team, the Huskies made nearly 45% of their shots (13 of 29), but were beaten in the statistic by the Wolves' 52% shooting (14 of 27). Bloomsburg out-rebounded Cheyney 19 to 12 in the opening period.
In the second half, Johnson came through big for Bloomsburg, scoring 16 points by making 5 of 7 shots from the floor and a perfect 6 of 6 from the foul line.
A pair of technical fouls cost the Wolves four points, and with 1:45 remaining, a pair of good free throws by Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown/Norristown) tied the game at 79-79.
At the other end, David Burton sank a pair from the charity stripe to put the Wolves up two, and Johnson responded with his big layup to tie the game for the 20th time at 81-81.
In the end, it was a foul with 2.8 seconds remaining that cost Bloomsburg the game. Sharif Bray made two for Cheyney, and the Wolves stopped BU's inbound to give Cheyney the 83-81 win.
Johnson totaled a team-high 24 points in the game and shot 12 for 14 from the foul line. Christmas and Larry Webster (Hagerstown, MD/Elkton) III each contributed 14 points and three rebounds. Schwarz finished the day with 11 points, and Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport/Williamsport) was the fifth Husky in double-figures, posting 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Jesse Betar (Altoona/Altoona) dished out a team-high four assists in the loss.
Bray finished with 27 points for Cheyney, while three other Wolves recorded double-digit scoring.
Heading into the final week of the regular-season, Bloomsburg, Cheyney, and East Stroudsburg University are locked in a three-way tie for third place in the PSAC East. Each team has two games remaining to improve its position before one of the three is left out of this year's tournament.
Bloomsburg travels to face East Stroudsburg on Wednesday, February 22 at 8 p.m. The Huskies then conclude the regular season at West Chester on Saturday, February 26.
