CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team went 10-for-10 from the free throw line over the last sixty seconds on Sunday afternoon and held off the Vulcans of California University of Pennsylvania, 81-75, at the Convocation Center. The Huskies improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) while the Vulcans dropped to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in league action.
 
Redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton), who hit eight of the ten free throws over the last minute, finished the afternoon with a game-high 26 points – 17 in the second half. He was 6-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, and 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. He finished the weekend with 57 points in two games after scoring 31 points in Saturday's victory at Seton Hill.
 
Bloomsburg jumped out to a fast start and led by a 40-24 margin at halftime. California scored seven of the game's first eleven points before the Huskies went on a 14-0 run to take an 18-7 lead with 11:34 left in the first half. The Vulcans cut the lead to six before Bloomsburg went on another significant run – 13-0 – to jump in front by a 31-12 score with 5:55 left. California outscored Bloomsburg 12-9 the rest of the way to trim the Huskies' lead to 16 at the break.
 
The visitors led 54-36 with 14:01 left in regulation before the Vulcans mounted a comeback. An 8-0 run by the home team got California to within ten with 11:25 left. The Vulcans whittled he lead to as few as five with 4:05 left before Mortellite hit a triple to stop the bleeding. Junior Malik Sneed (Washington, D.C./Spingarn) hit Bloomsburg's final field goal of the game with 1:45 left and the Huskies were able to hold off the Vulcans the rest of the way thanks to the foul shooting.
 
Bloomsburg outscored California 30-11 from the free throw line and shot 30-of-37 for the game (81.1%). The Vulcans were just 11-of-16 from the foul line (68.8%) for the contest. The game, otherwise, was tight. Bloomsburg shot 43.4% from the field while California shot 43.5% while the Huskies held a 40-33 advantage in rebounds. The Vulcans turned the ball over just nine times on the afternoon while Bloomsburg committed 13 miscues.
 
In addition to Mortellite's 26 points, four other Huskies finished in double figures – junior Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) (11), Sneed (10), senior Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) (10), and redshirt freshman Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) (10). Sneed added a game-high ten rebounds for his first double-double in a Bloomsburg uniform.
 
Luka Andjusic led four Vulcans in double figures with 18 points.
 
The Huskies will return home on Tuesday, November 24, when they host the Wildcats of Wilmington University at Nelson Field House. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.