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HAZLETON – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team had three players score 17 or more points as it put together some tough defensive possessions down the stretch to hold off Penn State Hazleton, 79-78, Thursday night in a non-conference contest.
 
The Huskies (1-1) found themselves in a much tougher test than prescribed against the Nittany Lions (1-2).  Neither team led by more than seven points in a game that came down to a potential buzzer-beating upset victory for the Nittany Lions.
 
Up one with 13 seconds to play, freshman point guard Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) was fouled at the top of the key for a one-and-one attempt and a chance to give the Huskies a three-point lead.  Haigler missed the front end as junior forward Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport/Williamsport) grabbed the rebound but missed the follow up.
 
PSU got the ball with 6.4 seconds to play, drove the length of the floor, but Miguel Rodriguez's long range attempt at the buzzer was off the mark as great Huskies defense gave BU its first win of the season.
 
Jordan led the Huskies with 18 points, as Haigler and junior Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown/Norristown) each scored 17 points for Bloomsburg.  It was a season-high for all three Huskies and a career-high for Haigler, playing in just his second game in the maroon and gold.
 
Penn State held its final lead of the game with 3:07 to play at 73-72.  Jordan grabbed an offensive rebound, one of 11 total rebounds on the night, and immediately laid the ball back up and in with a foul.  He converted on the attempt to give the Huskies a 75-73 advantage.
 
Haigler followed up the and-one attempt with a steal for a dunk the other way to grow the BU lead to four.  PSU's Casey Petty was fouled during a three-point attempt and made all three attempts to bring the game to one.
 
The teams traded buckets in the last minute before the final run of plays ultimately went in the Huskies favor.
 
Along with the top trio of scorers, senior Daniel Kusnyer (Wexford/Hillsborough CC) got his first start of the season and scored a season-best 11 points including significant three-point shooting.  He made three on the night.  BU's fifth starter, Nnamdi Njoku (Westampton, NJ/Rancocas Valley), was tough defensively against the Nittany Lions and contributed six points.
 
Petty dropped 15 of his 18 points in the second half to keep the Nittany Lions in the game.  PSU's 14 made three pointers were the most Bloomsburg allowed to an opponent since Mansfield hit 14 in the final game of the 2007-08 season.
 
Christmas picked a good time to extend his streak of consecutive games with a three pointer Thursday night.  Down two with 6:48 to play, Christmas capped a run of five straight points with a three pointer, his 12th consecutive game with a triple, to give BU a 65-64 lead.
 
Dan Fogarty's three pointer with 2:37 left in the opening half gave the Nittany Lions their largest lead of the game at 38-31.  PSU led by three at the break, 41-38.
 
Nine of PSU Hazleton's 16 first-half field goals came from beyond the arc.  The Nittany Lions entered the game averaging 42.9 percent shooting from three-point range.
 
Jordan and Haigler each scored a team-high eight points in the opening 20 minutes.  Haigler hit a season-high in scoring in the first half alone.  Christmas chipped in seven points as the Huskies were also able to get to the free throw line in the first half, shooting 9-for-12 at the charity stripe.
 
Bloomsburg opened the second half on a 13-4 run to take a 51-45 lead with three consecutive three-pointers. It marked Bloomsburg's largest lead of the game with 16:03 to play.  However, two BU turnovers in the next two minutes turned into five PSU points to bring the game to one at 51-50.
 
Petty tied the game on a three pointer and PSU overcame the six-point second-half deficit on a Dwayne Vines layup to give PSU a 55-53 lead with 11:24 to play.
 
Bloomsburg returns to Nelson Field House on Tuesday, Nov. 20 to host Chestnut Hill College in a non-conference matchup set to tip at 7 p.m.  The Huskies defeated the Griffins 87-86 last year on a game-winning Larry  Webster tip-in.