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BLOOMSBURG – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team used a 16-0 blitz over the final six minutes of play in Tuesday's home opener to pull away for a 79-61 victory over visiting Penn State Hazleton at Nelson Fieldhouse.

The Huskies (1-1) shot a scorching 70 percent (14 of 20) during the second half to seal victory late against the pesky Lions (0-2), who made things interesting until the final minutes.  

Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) led the way offensively by tying a career-high with 19 points and added nine rebounds for Bloomsburg while shooting seven of eight from the floor. In all, four Huskies found double figures – Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport/Williamsport) netted 13 points; Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown/Norristown) also finished with 13 points and Alssene Saintilus (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) tallied 11 points.

The Huskies held a 40-33 lead at intermission and led by 12 following a long-range jumper from Christmas four minutes into the second period before the Lions began to chip away. Bloomsburg led the entire second half, but its lead was trimmed to two at 63-61 with 6:22 to play following a pair of free throws from PSU-Hazleton's Mike Amrhein. Jordan started the Husky charge, draining a 3-pointer to start the game-ending blitz. Saintilus then drove the lane on three out of the next four possessions to score six of the game's next seven points to stretch the Husky advantage to double digits and the hosts would never look back.

For the game the Huskies finished at a 54.5 percent clip (24-44) from the floor while limiting the Lions to just over 39 percent (22-56). Bloomsburg dominated the boards, outrebounding PSU-Hazleton 37-23. The Huskies also found much success in the post, posting 38 points in the paint and 20 second chance points.

Moustapha Noumbissi (Upper Darby/Delaware County Christian School) added eight points and five rebounds while Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) posted eight points and also handed out a team-high four assists.

Amrhein led the Lions with 18 points to go along with Ashkan Naderi who finished with 15 points and seven assists.

The Huskies will return to action with another contest at home, hosting Lincoln (PA) at Nelson Field House on Saturday evening. Saturday's game is scheduled to get underway at 7:30 p.m.