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BLOOMSBURG – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team remained perfect on the young season, holding off a late charge from Shippensburg to score a 76-73 triumph on Saturday afternoon at Nelson Field House.
 
The victory moves the Huskies to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference while the Raiders suffer their first defeat in their conference opener and now stand 3-1, 0-1.
 
In many ways, Saturday's contest was a game of runs for both sides. Shippensburg started hot, opening an 8-0 lead and leading by double digits at 14-4 at the 12:57 mark before the Huskies began chipping away.
 
Bloomsburg then launched a 13-4 run to cut to within 18-17 on a 3-pointer by Ashkan Naderi (Herndon, VA/Herndon) and took its first lead of the game with 5:07 left in the half on a running one-hander in the lane by Jon Riles (Philadelphia/Academy of the New Church).
 
The Huskies ultimately closed the half on a 30-10 blitz, capping the rally on another long trey from Anthony McKie (Blue Bell/Plymouth Whitemarsh) for a 10-point lead at the half, 34-24.
 
Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) started the second half scoring with a 3-pointer and Bloomsburg took its largest lead of the day at 39-24 on a bucket inside from Moustapha Noumbissi (Upper Darby/Delaware County Christian School).
 
Bloomsburg led by double digits as late at 7:29 to play, grabbing a 63-52 advantage on a jumper from Alssene Saintilus (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown).
 
Shippensburg fought its way back into the game, however, cutting the Huskies lead to just 65-59 with 5:59 to go.
 
Naderi fed Noumbissi inside for a layup and-one at the line for the traditional three-point play following a Raiders foul to put the score at 68-61 with 3:44 remaining, but Shippensburg refused to go away.
 
Following another Shippensburg foul, Saintilus hit one of two at the line for an eight-point lead with 2:38 showing on the clock. Dustin Sleva then drained a three on the wing to cut the lead to five and, following a Raiders defensive stop, Dylan Edgar beat the defense inside for a layup to draw within 69-66 with 91 seconds remaining.
 
McKie gave the Huskies some breathing room, racing into the lane off the right elbow and used the glass for a layup and a 71-66 advantage with 1:19 remaining. A Huskies foul and two free throws from Shippensburg's Abe Massaley made it a one possession game again, however.
 
A missed layup by the Huskies gave the ball back to Shippensburg and the Raiders opted for a quick two trailing 71-68. Edgar gave Shippensburg a bucket inside to draw to 71-70 with 18 seconds to go.
 
Following a timeout, a scrum took place for a loose ball as time ticked down. A jump ball was signaled and the possession arrow favored the Huskies. Shippensburg head coach Chris Fite was whistled for a technical foul arguing the call, leading to a pair of free throws from Riles. Bloomsburg retained possession, forcing Shippensburg to foul and send Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) to the line and the redshirt freshman calmly sank both to make it a two-score game and all but put things out of reach with 14 seconds to go.
 
Jay Hardy drained a long three-pointer as time expired, but it was too little too late for the visitors.
 
Haigler continued his strong play in the early season with a team-high 18 points along with seven rebounds. In all, four Huskies worked into double figures as Riles chipped in 15 points, Mortellite added 13 points and six rebounds and Noumbissi finished with 11 points and six boards.
 
Sleva led Shippensburg with 18 points with Edgar registering 14 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Bloomsburg returns to action Tuesday in non-conference play, making the trip to Goldey-Beacom for a 7 p.m. start time.