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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team bounced back from a disappointing effort on Friday night to earn an impressive 79-70 victory over the visiting Gannon Golden Knights in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover contest at Nelson Field House on Saturday afternoon. The win improved the Huskies' overall record to 5-4 on the season and moved them to 3-2 in the PSAC Eastern Division. Gannon fell to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the PSAC West.
 
The Huskies had less than 24 hours to put an 88-48 loss to Mercyhurst on Friday night behind them. And, the Huskies did just that, jumping out to a 7-0 lead only 1:19 into the contest to force an early Gannon timeout. Redshirt senior Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) got the ball rolling and then back-to-back three-pointers from redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) and sophomore Alex Prislupsky (Olyphant/Mid-Valley), who was making his first start of the season, ignited the offense.
 
The Huskies didn't cool down, jumping out to a 20-5 lead with 11:44 left in the first half after three straight triples from Prislupsky, redshirt freshman Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers), and Mortellite. Gannon would eventually cut the Bloomsburg lead to single digits, 34-25, after a pair of free throws from Kevin Kuteyi who scored a game-high 24 points in just 19 minutes off the Golden Knight bench.
 
The teams traded baskets over the final 2:52 and Bloomsburg settled for a 38-30 lead as both teams headed to the locker room.
 
Gannon would chip away at the lead and eventually knotted the game at 43-43 after Kuteyi buried a three-pointer with 14:14 left. But, the Huskies, who never trailed in the contest, got a conventional three-point play from junior Malik Sneed (Washington, D.C./Spingarn) just seconds later to go up for good.
 
After Gannon's Jean-Yves Toupane scored at the other end to cut the lead to one with 12:43 left, senior Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy), who posted his first double-double in a Bloomsburg uniform,, buried a three-pointer from the left wing to put the Huskies back in front by four. Gannon cut the lead to two on its ensuing possession but that would be as close as the Golden Knights would get. Back-to-back baskets from Mortellite, a jumper from Garner, and a three-pointer from Prislupsky gave the Huskies a 58-51 advantage with 9:06 left.
 
Bloomsburg would get its lead up to 11 on several different occasions before settling for the nine-point victory – its second win in a row against the Golden Knights after droppong the first nine meetings between the two schools.
 
After seeing his double-digit point-scoring streak end at 18 games on Friday against Mercyhurst, Mortellite led the Huskies with 21 points – his sixth 20-point outing of the season. He was 6-of-12 from the field, 3-of-6 from downtown, and 6-of-6 at the line. Prislupsky, starting his first game since February 18, 2015 against Kutztown, sparked the Husky offense early and finished with 13 points on 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range.
 
Garner also finished in double figures with 10 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds for his first double-double in a Bloomsburg uniform. Junior point guard Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) narrowly missed a double-double, chipping in nine points and a career-high nine assists.
 
Gannon got most of its production from its bench as Kuteyi scored 24 and Isaiah Eisendorf added 13. Toupane was the only Golden Knight starter in double figures, finishing with 12.
 
Bloomsburg shot a season-high 57.1% from the field, making 24 of its 42 field goal attempts. The Huskies also made 8-of-16 from long range.
 
The Huskies are off for the next 11 days and will not play again until traveling to PSAC East-rival West Chester on Wednesday, December 16. Start time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.