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BLOOMSBURG – Bloomsburg men's basketball senior Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown/Norristown) entered Wednesday's PSAC East opener vs. Millersville just 16 points shy of 1,000 for his career and while the home fans had to wait awhile to see the milestone, Christmas made it count by hitting the 1,000-point plateau with late free throws to ice an 83-77 victory.

Christmas reached the milestone on a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining to help put away the Marauders (1-2, 0-1 PSAC East) and send the Huskies (3-1, 1-0 PSAC East) to their third straight triumph. The senior guard finished with 17 points and moves to 1,001 for his BU career.

Bloomsburg started fast, scoring the game's first points and ran its advantage to double digits in the first four and a half minutes of play. The Huskies controlled the opening period, stretching the lead to as much as 19 (41-22) on a layup from Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport/Williamsport) with 2:27 left before halftime. By the time the teams hit the locker room for intermission, Bloomsburg's lead stood at 46-29.

Millersville immediately put itself back in the game by embarking on a 10-2 run to begin the second half, cutting its deficit to single digits. The Marauders continued to chip away, closing to within five points (56-51) on a 3-pointer from Tyree Smith with 14:05 to play. Bloomsburg counter-punched with an 11-3 sprint to stretch the lead once more, but Millersville had one last rally left.

The Marauders whittled the Huskies lead to just three at 78-75 with 38 seconds remaining. A foul sent Christmas to the line and he made one of two to allow the hosts a two possession lead once more. A defensive stop on the other end followed by the Marauder foul sent Jon Riles (Philadelphia/Academy of the New Church) to the charity stripe for two shots and a six-point lead. Tayvon Parker made two of three shots at the line following a foul from beyond the arc to close to within four again before Christmas put the game away with his shots from the line.

Jordan led the Huskies in scoring with 18 points and seven rebounds while two other Bloomsburg players found double digit scoring as well – Moustapha Noumbissi (Upper Darby/Delaware County Christian School) registered a career-high 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Alssene Saintilus (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) notched 14 points and six rebounds while Riles made his debut in the starting lineup and finished with 13 points, five boards, five assists and four steals.

Bloomsburg returns to action at Lock Haven on Saturday afternoon as PSAC East play continues.

GAME NOTES: The Huskies shot 48 percent from the floor for the game (26-of-54) and out-rebounded Millersville by a 46-40 margin … Noumbissi's previous career high in points (12) came against Millersville last year … the Marauders shot 27 percent (9-33) from behind the 3-point line while Bloomsburg was 6-11 … Christmas joins teammate Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport/Williamsport) in the 1,000-point club as two of 27 players in Bloomsburg history to accomplish the feat ... Jordan moved to 18th all-time in BU scoring with 1,121 points.