ERIE – It was a down-to-the-wire finish between the Bloomsburg University and Gannon University men's swimming teams Friday night.  Gannon won the final event of the night, the 200-free relay, by .16 seconds to drop the Huskies by a 103-102 decision at the Carneval Athletic Pavilion.
 
The Huskies (1-2 overall, 1-2 PSAC) hung with one of the top teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in the Golden Knights (2-2, 1-0).  With seven swimmers setting PSAC qualifying marks in new events, head coach Stu Marvin couldn't be prouder of his group.
 
“It was a tough loss that came down to the final event, but overall we did a great job tonight that we aren't the least disappointed about,” Marvin said.  “To come into a hostile environment after a six-hour bus trip and swim such a close meet was huge for us.”
 
Senior co-captain Jeremy Frey (Pipersville/Central Bucks East), already a PSAC swimmer in the 100-back, swam a season-best time in the 200-free in 1:49.26 to secure his spot in another event at the PSAC Championships in February.
 
Sophomore Brandon Sherbo (Etters/Red Land) turned in a great swim in the 500-free Friday night.  Already the holder of the second-fastest 500-free time in school-history, Sherbo won the event in 4:49.96 for his third-best time in the event in just the third meet of the year for the Huskies.
 
Bloomsburg had three swimmers swim under conference standards in the 50-free, as freshman Nick Angeny (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan) became a PSAC multi-event swimmer with a 22.58 mark.  Junior Bryan Masilotti (Vineland, N.J./Vineland) won the event in 21.92 and freshman Bill Urban (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan) also raised the point total for the Huskies with a 22.49, good for fourth in the event.
 
Freshman Jake Harner (Philadelphia/Father Judge) posted an all-time top-10 time for Bloomsburg in the 400-IM.  In his first time swimming the event in a collegiate meet, Harner won the race in 4:21.54 for No. 10 in school history.  He also won the 100-free in 48.10.
 
Junior Tom Malloy (Lancaster/Lancaster Catholic) finished fourth in the 400-IM in 4:34.64, punching his ticket to PSAC's as well.
 
Junior Mark DiLemmo (Doylestown/Central Bucks East) qualified in the 100-fly in 54.96, and sophomore Aaron Cancro (Limerick/Spring-Ford) turned in a third-place swim in the 100-back (56.33).
 
Bloomsburg remains on the road this weekend as it prepares for a pair of conference swims on Saturday.  Fans can expect another close and exciting meet on Saturday, Nov. 3 as BU goes up against Edinboro University in a quad meet hosted by Edinboro beginning at 1 p.m.  The Fighting Scots bested the Huskies last season, 136-121.