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WEST CHESTER, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team makes the trip to play at rival West Chester this Saturday afternoon. The Huskies will look to snap a six-game WCU winning streak and halt a three-game losing skid of their own.

Bloomsburg and West Chester enter Saturday tied for second in the PSAC East behind division-leading East Stroudsburg. The Huskies are coming off a 74-63 setback vs. No. 8 ESU on Wednesday while WCU scored an 81-65 win at Shippensburg.


SCOUTING WEST CHESTER
The Golden Rams enter Saturday's play with a 12-4 overall record and are 5-1 in the PSAC East and have been red hot, winning six straight games. WCU finished before the holidays with an 84-77 win vs. Edinboro and since the new year have put together wins vs. Mercyhurst (80-72), Gannon (73-72) and Lock Haven (91-87, OT) at home as well as road wins at Clarion (77-65) and Shippensburg (81-65). Cory Blake scored 20 points and R.J. Griffin added 17 as WCU defeated Shippensburg on the road on Wednesday night to move into a tie with the Huskies for second place in the Eastern Division standings.

West Chester has been strong offensively, ranking second in the PSAC at points per game with 80.7. They rank 12th in defense, however, allowing 74.3 ppg. The Golden Rams have done much of their damage on the offensive glass, picking up 14.4 offensive rebounds per game, second only to Slippery Rock in the PSAC, and have an overall rebounding margin of +4.5.

WCU spreads its scoring throughout the lineup as five players average in double figure scoring – Troy Hockaday (16.4 ppg), Eddie Mitchell (14.6 ppg), Blake (13.1 ppg), Griffin (11.8 ppg) and Shannon Givens (10.9 ppg), making matchups difficult for opponents.

THE BLOOMSBURG-WEST CHESTER SERIES
Bloomsburg leads, 64-61
WCU has gotten the best of the series in recent years, taking five straight victories. The Golden Rams swept the season series last year and scored three wins in 2011-12, including a PSAC Playoff victory. Bloomsburg swept the season series in 2010-11, scoring is last win over WCU at Hollinger Field House, 61-58, on Feb. 26, 2011. On that day, Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport/Williamsport), Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown/Norristown) and Jamar Smack (Philadelphia/State College) all scored nine points for the Huskies.

NO REST FOR THE WEARY
Bloomsburg has hit a tremendously tough patch in the schedule – its previous two games came against nationally-ranked foes IUP and East Stroudsburg and now the Huskies face a West Chester team with six straight wins. The Huskies held court with both IUP and ESU, holding a seven-point second half lead at No. 6 IUP and remained within single digits until late vs. No. 8 ESU this past Wednesday. BU played both games without leading scorer Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport/Williamsport) who was out because of injury.

TWEETABLES (Huskies facts in 140 characters or less)
-The Huskies tied a season-high with 11 steals against ESU on Wednesday.

-BU also caused 21 turnovers from ESU, the most by any opponent this season.

-Alssene Saintilus (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) tied a career-high with 21 points on Wednesday. Only Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown/Norristown) (23 vs. Gannon) and Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport/Williamsport) (34 vs. Lincoln) have more this year.

-Saintilus now has double-figure scoring in 10 games this year, tied with Christmas for the team lead.

-Jon Riles (Philadelphia/Academy of the New Church) has led the Huskies in assists in 10 games this season.

-Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) has a steal in every game this year except the season-opener at Chestnut Hill.

BU PSAC PLAYER RANKINGS
-Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown/Norristown) ranks 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (.375) and 3's per game (2.1).

-Jon Riles (Philadelphia/Academy of the New Church) stands sixth in assists per game (3.4), 11th in free throw percentage (36-for-45, .800) and 13th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1). Riles is also 17th in steals per game (1.4 spg).

-Moustapha Noumbissi (Upper Darby/Delaware County Christian School) is seventh in blocks per game (1.6 bpg).

-Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) ranks 13th in steals per game (1.5 spg).

UP NEXT
The Huskies return home to host Mansfield on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. inside Nelson Field House before traveling to Kutztown next Saturday for a 3 p.m. start.