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BLOOMSBURG – The third time was the charm for the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon as it avenged a pair of regular season setbacks vs. Kutztown with an 82-71 victory in the first round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament at Nelson Field House.

The win moves the third-seeded Huskies (16-11) onto the PSAC Quarterfinals and a meeting at West Chester beginning at 7:30 p.m. West Chester earned a bye through the first round after locking into the second seed from the PSAC East.

For the Huskies, it marks the first playoff victory since 2002.

"Our game plan was to get after them defensively and we did that," Bloomsburg head coach John Sanow said. "Tonight we did a better job of putting two halves together than we did in the first two games (against Kutztown)."

Kutztown (10-17) led during the opening minutes, but a layup from Andrew Morgan (New Brunswick, NJ/St. Joseph's) gave the Huskies a 23-22 lead at the 6:18 mark of the half. Bloomsburg never again trailed, and took a nine-point edge to intermission when Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown/Norristown) drained a 3-pointer six seconds before the buzzer for a 34-25 halftime lead.

Like in the previous two meetings, however, Kutztown would make a run. The Golden Bears started the second half on a 13-4 run to tie the game at 38 following a traditional 3-point play from Tracy Peal with 14:35 remaining. Where Kutztown never relinquished momentum when it began game-changing runs in the first matchup of the year as well as this past Wednesday night to conclude the regular season, this time around the Huskies were able to weather the storm.

A jumper from Christmas put the Huskies ahead 40-38, though the margin remained within four points for the next five minutes. Kutztown again tied the score, this time at 45, on another three-point play from Josh Johnson at the 9:52 mark. Riles answered with a runner in the lane to re-take the lead and, following a defensive stop and Kutztown foul, made two free throws for a 50-47 advantage. Another 3-pointer from Christmas gave the Huskies a 54-47 lead, but Kutztown scored the next four points to close to 54-51 with still 7:14 to go.

With Kutztown within 58-56, Armand Leaks (Philadelphia/The Shipley School) started a sway in momentum with his basket to put the Huskies ahead by two possessions again, starting a 9-0 run which ended on a three-point play from Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport/Williamsport), giving the Huskies their largest lead of the afternoon at 67-56.

Bloomsburg never looked back from there as Kutztown never got any closer than seven points the rest of the way.

The Huskies' senior leaders stepped up, posting their first playoff victories in maroon and gold. Jordan finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the year while Christmas added a game-high 22 points.

"They stepped up in the big moments," Sanow said. "They had big games for us and that's what we needed from them."

Key to the Huskies win was their dominance on the boards, out-rebounding Kutztown by a 47-31 margin including 23 offensive rebounds leading to 17 second chance points.

"We controlled the backboard and got back to getting big numbers rebounding the basketball," Sanow said. "That was big for our defense and overall for the game."

Whistles were aplenty during the game as the teams combined for 51 personal fouls. The Huskies benefitted the most from the abundance of fouls, finishing 34-of-45 from the line while Kutztown was 14-20.

Tracy Peal led the way for Kutztown, pouring in 21 points.

Bloomsburg now will look to repeat its early season win at West Chester's Hollinger Field House. The Huskies won a thriller, 77-76, over the Golden Rams on Jan. 18. West Chester evened the season series with a road win of its own, 81-68, on Feb. 19.

GAME NOTES: Jordan moved into 11th place in school history with 1,353 career points, and is only one point away from 10th place Shawn Mundford … Christmas also took over 13th place in the BU scoring charts with 1,291 career points.