Men's Basketball | 11/27/2015 3:03:00 PM
BLOOMSBURG (3-2, 2-0 PSAC East) at LINCOLN (1-3, 0-0 CIAA)
Saturday, November 28, 2015 - 4:00 p.m.
Lincoln University, Pa. | Manuel Rivero GymnasiumGAME COVERAGE:Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/lincoln/mbball/Live Video: http://www.lulions.com/livestreamLive Audio (WHLM-AM): http://www.whlmam.comRELATED LINKS:Bloomsburg -
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StatisticsA LOOK BACK ...The Huskies opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play with a pair of road victories at Seton Hill on November 21 and at California (PA) on November 22. The Huskies defeated Seton Hill, 88-74, to improve to 2-1 lifetime against the Griffins. On Sunday, Bloomsburg held off California, 81-75 - just the fifth victory in 24 career meetings against the Vulcans. The Huskies then dropped an 81-78 decision against Wilmington at Nelson Field House on Tuesday night, November 24. Bloomsburg dropped to 5-3 lifetime against the Wildcats.
VS. SETON HILL (11-21) ...Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) poured in a game-high 31 points to lift the Huskies to an 88-74 win at Seton Hill. It was the second career 30-point game for the redshirt sophomore with his first coming against West Chester on February 11, 2015 - a 37-point effort. Mortellite was 7-of-13 from the field, 4-of-8 from three-point range, and 13-of-15 from the free throw line (tying his career high in free throws made in a game). Redshirt freshman
Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) (12) and junior
Anthony McKie (Blue Bell/Plymouth Whitemarsh) (11) also scored in double figures for the Huskies. Junior
Malik Sneed (Washington, D.C./Spingarn) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in the victory. Bloomsburg led 44-40 at halftime and then outscored the Griffins, 44-34, in the second half.
VS. CALIFORNIA (PA) (11-22) ...Bloomsburg jumped out to a 40-24 lead at halftime and then had to hold off a California comeback bid to earn an 81-75 victory - just the fifth win in 24 career contests with the Vulcans. Free throw shooting was the key as the Huskies went 10-for-10 at the line over the final sixty seconds to hold off California.
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton), who hit eight of those free throws down the stretch, scored a game-high 26 points on 6-of-13 from the field, 4-of-8 from three-point range, and 10-of-10 at the line. Four other Huskies finished in double figures - junior
Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) (11), senior
Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) (10), junior
Malik Sneed (Washington, D.C./Spingarn) (10), and redshirt freshman
Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) (10). Sneed added a game-high 10 rebounds for his first double-double in a Bloomsburg uniform. The Huskies were 30-of-37 at the free throw line compared to the Vulcans' 11-of-16.
VS. WILMINGTON (11-24) ...Bloomsburg led Wilmington for more than 30 minutes on Tuesday night, including a 72-65 lead with 4:36 left in regulation. However, the Huskies went just 3-for-8 from the free throw line in the closing minutes as Wilmington chipped away and eventually escaped with an 81-78 victory. Rebounding proved costly for the Huskies as they were outdistanced by a 50-36 margin. Wilmington had 21 offensive rebounds which led to 26 second-chance points. Bloomsburg had 11 offensive rebounds which only produced eight second-chance points. Redshirt sophomore
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) led the way with 26 points but was just 9-of-25 from the field and 3-of-9 from long distance. Redshirt freshman
Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) was the only other Husky in double figures after finishing with 11. Sophomore
Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, DE/Sanford School) filled the box score, posting six points, ten rebounds, six blocks, and three assists.
LAST MEETING AGAINST LINCOLN ...Bloomsburg needed two overtimes to put away the Lions, 89-79, on November 16, 2013 at Nelson Field House. The Huskies scored 21 points in the second overtime, 10 by Dontahe Jordan, who led the Huskies with 34 points. He also led Bloomsburg with nine rebounds and four assists in the victory. Lorenzo Christmas added 18 points while
Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) (11) and
Jon Riles (Philadelphia/Academy of the New Church) (10) also finished in double figures. Bloomsburg shot nearly 53% from the field and went to the free throw line 55 times in the contest, making 40. Justin Jackson led four Lincoln players in double figures with 20 points. George Jackson (17), Tony Efese (12), and Derrick Washington (12) also registered double figures.
SCOUTING LINCOLN ...Lincoln enters Saturday's matchup with a 1-3 overall record. It opened the season with a 98-73 loss to Fairmont State and then suffered an 83-76 overtime loss to West Virginia Wesleyan on November 14. The Lions picked up their only victory of the season against Chestnut Hill, an 81-80 decision on November 20. Four Lincoln players average double figures through four games this season. Leading the way is Vernon Young who averages 13.5 points per contest. He also ranks second on the team in rebounding at 6.0 per game. Quaman Burton averages 11.8 points per game while Charles Cooley and Jordan Watson each average 11.0 points per game. Joshua Davis is the leading rebounder on the team, pulling down 6.3 boards per contest. The Lions average 75.8 points per game but allow 86.0 points per game on defense. The team has blocked only three shots in four games, two by Davis.
MORTELLITE NAMED PSAC EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK ...Redshirt sophomore
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) was named the PSAC East Player of the Week for his performance over the weekend in leading the Huskies to a pair of road conference victories at Seton Hill and California (PA). He scored 31 points and grabbed six rebounds in the win at Seton Hill, then added 26 points, four rebounds, and three assists as the Huskies held off the Vulcans on Sunday. For the week, Mortellite averaged 28.5 points, five rebounds, and two assists as the Huskies improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in league play. He was 13-of-26 from the field, 8-of-16 from three-point range, and 23-of-25 from the foul line in the two victories. He now leads the team by averaging 21.2 points per game despite averaging only 24.2 minutes per contest.
DOWNTOWN WITH THE HUSKIES ...The Huskies have made at least one three-pointer in 132 consecutive games. The last time Bloomsburg did not make a three in a game was on December 4, 2010 in a 54-51 loss at Lock Haven when it went 0-7 from beyong the arc.
LINEUP CHANGE PAYS OFF ...Head coach
John Sanow inserted redshirt sophomore
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) and redshirt senior
Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) into the starting lineup over the weekend and the change paid dividends for the Huskies. The duo replaced senior
Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) and sophomore
Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, DE/Sanford School). Mortellite averaged 28.5 points per game over the weekend and Bloomsburg, as a team, averaged 84.5 points in the two victories. With Garner and Rose in the starting rotation, the Huskies averaged 66.0 points per game over the first two contests - a split against Penn State Hazleton and Felician.
SANOW CLOSING IN ON SECOND-PLACE IN CAREER WINS ...Head coach
John Sanow is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Bloomsburg men's basketball program and has guided the Huskies to a 104-143 overall record to date - third in Bloomsburg history among career wins. Sanow needs nine victories to pass Harold S. Shelly who won 112 games with the Huskies from 1949-1960. However, Sanow has a longway to go to catch the program's all-time leader, Charlie Chronister, who compiled 559 victores from 1971-2002. Below is a list of the top five wins leaders in program history:
| Charlie Chronister (1971-2002) | 559-288 (.660) |
| Harold S. Shelly (1949-1960) | 112-74 (.602) |
| John Sanow (2006-pres.) | 104-143 (.421) |
| George C. Buckheit (1932-1943; 1944-1946) | 99-75 (.569) |
| Earl Voss (1966-1971) | 63-42 (.600) |
UPCOMING SCHEDULEBloomsburg will play three home conference games next week beginning with a Tuesday night, December 1, matchup against East Stroudsburg at Nelson Field House. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The Huskies will then host Mercyhurst on Friday, December 4 (7:30 p.m.) and Gannon on Saturday, December 5 (4:00 p.m.)
