Men's Basketball | 12/18/2015 4:01:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG (5-5, 3-3 PSAC East) vs MANSFIELD (3-8, 1-6 PSAC East)
Saturday, December 19, 2015 - 1:00 p.m.
Bloomsburg, Pa. | Nelson Field House

GAME NOTES:
Bloomsburg vs Mansfield Game Notes

GAME COVERAGE:
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/bloomu/mbball/
Live Audio (WHLM-AM): http://www.whlmam.com

RELATED LINKS:
Bloomsburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Mansfield - Roster | Schedule | Statistics

A LOOK BACK ...
Bloomsburg dropped a hard-fought, 81-76, decision at PSAC-East leading West Chester on Tuesday night. The Huskies still lead the overall series against the Golden Rams by a slim 66-65 margin. West Chester has now won nine of the last eleven meetings between the two schools.

VS. WEST CHESTER (12-16) ...
Bloomsburg started fast, jumping out to a 13-4 lead early, before taking a 34-30 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The Huskies led by as many as six points on two different occasions in the second half, only to watch the Golden Rams take the lead for good, 58-56, with 6:38 left in regulation. Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) posted his second straight double-digit game and led the Huskies with a career-high 16 points. Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) also recorded a career-best with 15 points in 20 minutes off the bench. Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) had a rough shooting night, going 4-of-15 from the field and 0-of-6 from three-point range. He did, however, go 7-of-7 at the foul line to finish with 15 points.

THE MANSFIELD SERIES ...
Bloomsburg leads the all-time series against the Mountaineers, 101-74. However, Mansfield won both meetings against the Huskies last season - 91-81 in Mansfield on January 14 and 78-76 in Bloomsburg on February 14. The Mountaineers have won four of the last six meetings between the two programs.

LAST SEASON AGAINST MANSFIELD ...
Mansfield stopped a modest two-game losing streak against the Huskies, knocking off Bloomsburg 91-81 in Mansfield on Janaury 14, 2015. The Huskies trailed by two at halftime but then allowed 52 second-half points to the Mountaineers. Mansfield shot 58.7% from the field and 46.2% from three-point range en route to scoring 91 points against the Bloomsburg defense. Alssene Saintilus (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) led the Huskies with 19 points while Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) and Jon Riles (Philadelphia/Academy of the New Church) chipped in with 14 points apiece in a losing effort. Joe Bell led Mansfield with a game-high 27 points and nine rebounds. Thomas Moore added 20 for the Mountaineers in the victory.

Mansfield completed the season sweep exactly one month later with a 78-76 overtime win over the Huskies at Nelson Field House. Bloomsburg led by five at halftime and led by as many as 13 points in the second half before Mansfield mounted a comeback. Alssene Saintilus (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) put the Huskies up by three with 22 seconds left but Charles Pemberton, who led Mansfield with 21 points, converted a three-point play with 11 seconds remaining to force overtime. Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to give Bloomsburg its first lead of the extra session. But, Mansfield's Thomas Moore was fouled on a three-pointer with two seconds left and made all three free throws to give the visitors the victory. Mortellite led Bloomsburg with a game-high 25 points. Jon Riles (Philadelphia/Academy of the New Church) (11) and Saintilus (10) also finished in double figures. Pemberton had 21 points and 14 rebounds while Moore had 19 points and 11 assists for Mansfield.
 
SCOUTING MANSFIELD ...
Mansfield enters Saturday's contest in last place in the PSAC East standings with a 1-6 record in league play. The Mountaineers are 3-8 overall but just 1-5 away from home. Mansfield last played on Wednesday, December 16, and suffered a 79-72 loss at home against Shippensburg. The Mountaineers are averaging 75.0 points per game but are allowing a league-worst 84.6 points per game defensively. Mansfield is also a -3.9 in rebounding margin through 11 games this season. Thomas Moore leads the Mountaineers in scoring, averaging 17.4 points per game. He also chips in 4.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists per contest. His 6.4 assists per game leads the PSAC. Matt Tamanosky averages 14.6 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds this season. He has made 70 of his 116 shot attempts for a 60.3% field goal percentage - second in the conference. Joe Marshall is also in double figures, averaging 10.3 points per game. Brad Williams, who appeared in his first game of the season against Shippensburg, scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in the loss. The Mountaineers have seven players averaging at least 8.0 points per game and five players who have made at least 11 three-pointers on the season.

GARNERING SOME MORE SCORING ...
Senior Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) had the best game of his short Bloomsburg career on Wednesday, scoring a career-high 16 points in the Huskies 81-76 loss at West Chester. It was his second consecutive double-digit scoring output (third overall). He finished the contest shooting 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range. He entered the contest having made just 1-of-11 from long distance (.091). Over the last two games, Garner has scored 26 points (13.0 ppg) on 10-of-16 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Through his first eight games of the year, Garner scored 36 points (4.5 ppg) on 15-of-42 from the field (.357) and 0-of-9 from three-point range. All three of his double-digit scoring efforts this season have come over the course of the last five games.

STEWARD HAS BEST GAME OF YOUNG CAREER ...
Redshirt freshman Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) had the best scoring output of his young career on Wednesday, scoring 15 points in just 20 minutes off the bench in the 81-76 loss at West Chester. He was 7-of-11 from the field en route to his career-high in points. Despite not starting a game this season, Steward is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 6.9 points per game. He has had four double-digit scoring efforts this season, including three consecutive games against Seton Hill (11/21), California (11/22), and Wilmington (11/24). He was just 13-of-41 (.317) from the field before Wednesday's 7-of-11 performance.

SPARKING THE OFFENSE ...
Sophomore Alex Prislupsky (Olyphant/Mid-Valley) earned his first start of the season, and his first since  February 18, 2015, in the 79-70 victory over Gannon on December 5. After scoring 11 points in 13 minutes off the bench in the loss to Mercyhurst the night before, Prislupsky scored a season-high 13 points in the win over the Golden Knights. It marked the second time in his career that he has reached double digits in back-to-back games (December 16-17, 2014). He started his second straight game against West Chester on Wednesday and scored seven points. Despite only averaging 13.5 minutes per game, Prislupsky is sixth on the team in scoring (5.8 ppg). He has reached double figures in three of his eight games played this season.

LIFE AT THE LINE ...
Through the first ten games of the season, Bloomsburg has attempted 275 foul shots - an average of 27.5 attempts per game - tops in the conference. The Huskies have made 198 free throws for a 72.0% shooting percentage - seventh-best in the PSAC. Over the last eight games, the Huskies have averaged 30.1 trips to the charity stripe and are shooting at a 72.6% clip (175-241). Bloomsburg ranks 24th in the country in free throw attempts (275) and 24th in the nation in free throws made (198). Meanwhile, Bloomsburg opponents have attempted 227 free throws in ten games and have made only 146 of those tries (64.3%).

DEPTH PERCEPTION ...
Bloomsburg is getting production from a number of different players this season as 12 of the 15 players who have played at least one game this year have registered at least five points - and all 15 have scored at least one point. The Bloomsburg bench has scored 270 points this season, an average of 27.0 points per game and 37.0% of the team's scoring. The bench has outscored the opponents' bench in six of the first ten games and by a total margin of 270-252. Redshirt freshman Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers), who has not started a game this season, leads the Huskies' bench players by averaging 6.9 points per game - fourth on the team in scoring.

MALIK-MALIK WITH DOUBLE-DOUBLES ...  
The Huskies have only had two players record a double-double through nine games this season - junior Malik Sneed (Washington, D.C./Spingarn) and senior Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy). Sneed was the first to pull off the feat, posting ten points and ten rebounds in Bloomsburg's victory at California (PA) on November 22. Garner turned the trick in the win against Gannon on December 5, scoring ten points and grabbing eleven rebounds. Sneed leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.1 boards per game, while chipping in 4.1 points per contest. Sneed is also second on the team in blocked shots (13). Meanwhile, Garner has been heating up after a slow start. He is averaging 6.2 points per contest and is second on the team in rebounding (4.5). In his last five games, Garner is averaging 8.6 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Huskies. He was reinserted into the starting lineup in the victory over Gannon - his third start of the season. He had started the first two games of the season.

DIGGING HIS PERFORMANCE ...
Transferring in from Prince George's Community College during the summer, junior Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) has moved into second on the team in scoring by averaging 9.5 points per game after scoring a career-high 16 points on December 1 against East Stroudsburg and then 14 against Mercyhurst on Friday, December 4. He added a then-career-high six assists against the Warriors, but surpassed that with nine dimes against Gannon on December 5. He leads the team in assists (34), minutes played (29.1 per game), and free throws attempted (59) and is second on the team in free throws made (44). He is tied for 14th in the conference in assists (3.4 per game) and is ninth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.8).

DOWNTOWN WITH THE HUSKIES ...
The Huskies have made at least one three-pointer in 137 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 beyond the arc. Bloomsburg ranks 13th in the PSAC in three-pointers made per game (6.0), but is ninth in shooting percentage (34.5%). Redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) (28), sophomore Alex Prislupsky (Olyphant/Mid-Valley) (10), and junior Anthony McKie (Blue Bell/Plymouth Whitemarsh) (9) have combined to make 47 of the team's 60 triples through ten games. The trio has combined to shoot 47-of-109 from beyond the arc (43.1%). The rest of the team is 13-of-65 (20.0%).

DEADLY FROM LONG RANGE ...
Redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) picked up where he left off last season in the first ten games of the 2015-16 campaign. Despite averaging only 25.6 minutes per game, Mortellite leads the team in scoring, averaging 19.1 points per game. That figure has him fifth in the PSAC and first among players in the Eastern Division. He has made 28 of his 62 three-point attempts so far this season, and is tied for second in the PSAC in threes made per game (3.1), third in total three-pointers made (28), and sixth in three-point percentage (50.0%). Last season, Mortellite hit 51 of his 119 three-point attempts (42.9%). His 51 triples last season were the 14th-highest figure in program history. This season, Mortellite is on pace for 73 triples (26 regular season games). The school record is 82 held by Jay DeShields during the 2001-02 campaign. His 79 three-pointers in only 35 career games have him closing in on the top ten in the program's career leaderboard.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE ...
The game against Mansfield marks the final game of the 2015 portion of the regular season as the Huskies will not return to action until Sunday, January 3 when they host Slippery Rock University at Nelson Field House. Start time is set for 1:00 p.m.