Men's Basketball | 1/12/2016 2:19:00 PM
BLOOMSBURG (7-7, 5-5 PSAC East) at MILLERSVILLE (2-13, 2-9 PSAC East)
Wednesday, January 13, 2016 - 7:30 p.m.
Millersville, Pa. | Pucillo GymnasiumGAME NOTES:Bloomsburg at Millersville Game NotesGAME COVERAGE:Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/millersville/mbball/Live Audio (WHLM-AM): http://www.whlmam.comRELATED LINKS:Bloomsburg -
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StatisticsLAST TIME OUT ...Bloomsburg lost for the second consecutive time, dropping a 99-76 decision at Kutztown on Saturday. The 99 points were the most allowed this season and the most allowed since giving up 103 points in a 103-79 loss at Pitt-Johnstown on December 17, 2014. Kutztown led 46-35 at halftime but the Huskies were able to trim the lead to six early in the second half. The Golden Bears, however, went on a 29-12 run over the next nine minutes to blow the game open.
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) recorded his eighth 20-point game of the season, finishing with a team-high 20 points while tying a career-high with seven assists.
Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) scored a season-high 16 points while also pulling down a season-best eight rebounds.
Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) (15) and
Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) (10) also finished in double figures. The Huskies made a season-low two three-pointers and allowed the Golden Bears to shoot 55.4% from the field (36-of-65). Kutztown had five players in double figures led by Josh Johnson and Anthony Lee who each had 18 points.
THE MILLERSVILLE SERIES ...Millersville leads the all-time series against Bloomsburg, 95-87. The teams have split the last ten meetings with the home team winning every game during the stretch. In fact, the road team has not won in the series since Millersville earned a 79-68 win at Nelson Field House on January 16, 2008 - a string of 15 consecutive wins by the home team. Dating back to the 2000-01 season, Millersville has gone 21-8 against the Huskies.
LAST MEETING AGAINST MILLERSVILLE ...The two teams last met on February 21, 2015 with Millersville earning a 73-60 victory over Bloomsburg at Pucillo Gymnasium. The Marauders led by eight, 33-25, at halftime, and then led by as many as 23 in the second half before Bloomsburg made a last-ditch effort at a comeback. The Huskies had four players in double figures, led by
Alssene Saintilus (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) who finished with 15.
Jon Riles (Philadelphia/Academy of the New Church) added 14 while
Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) (11) and
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) (10) also reached double digits. Bloomsburg shot just 33.3% from the field (18-of-54) and made only 4-of-16 (25.0%) from beyond the arc. Jalen Lester led Millersville with 19 points while Eddie Callender added 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
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SCOUTING MILLERSVILLE ...Millersville brings a 2-13 overall record and a 2-9 mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings into Wednesday's contest. The Marauders have lost 12 straight games dating back to a 75-66 victory at Gannon on November 21. Millersville's other victory was at Mansfield on November 18. Both of Millersville's wins have been away from Pucillo Gymnasium as the Marauders are 0-6 on their home court this season. Millersville averages 66.9 points per game on offense (16th in the PSAC) while it allows 77.7 points per game on defense (15th in the PSAC). The Marauders struggle from the floor as they are shooting a PSAC-low 37.2% and a conference-worst 29.3% from beyond the arc this season. Shawn Williams is having a fine season for the Marauders as he leads the team by averaging 17.5 points per game - sixth in the PSAC and second in the East behind Bloomsburg's
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) (18.9). Williams also ranks second on the team in rebounds (5.9) and leads the squad with 41 assists (2.9). Ricky Mosley (11.1 ppg) and Cornell Yarde II (10.9 ppg) also average double figures. Demerik Weglinski is the team's leading rebounder, collecting 8.6 boards per game. Williams and Mosley have combined to hit 63 of the team's 116 three-pointers this season.
DOWNTOWN WITH THE HUSKIES ...The Huskies have made at least one three-pointer in 141 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 struggled to keep the streak alive on Saturday, however, as the Huskies went just 2-of-13 from long range.
Alex Prislupsky (Olyphant/Mid-Valley) hit the team's first triple with 18:08 left in the contest.
OFF THE MARK ...For just the fourth time this season, Bloomsburg was held to under 40% shooting in the 81-71 loss at Edinboro, making just 26 of 69 attempts (37.7%). The Huskies also shot a then-season-low 17.2% from three-point range (5-of-29). On Saturday, Bloomsburg made just 2-of-13 from long distance (15.4%). All told, in the two losses last week, Bloomsburg shot 52-of-132 (39.4%) from the field and 7-of-42 (16.7%) from beyond the arc. Case in point,
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) went 11-of-33 from the field and 1-of-12 from three-point range. He entered the week having made 33-of-76 (43.4%) from long range.
CLUTCH AT THE LINE ...Redshirt sophomore
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) had a superb afternoon at the free throw line on Sunday, January 3, helping the Huskies hang on for a 70-67 win over Slippery Rock. While the rest of the team went 8-of-22 (36.4%) at the foul line, Mortellite went 10-for-11, including 6-for-6 during the last three minutes, and 4-for-4 over the last sixty seconds as Bloomsburg held on for the win. Mortellite is second in the PSAC, and 14th in the country, in free throw percentage this season as he has converted 72-of-79 from the stripe (91.1%). He has made 38 of his last 39 attempts from the foul line. For his career, Mortellite is 164-of-181 from the foul line (90.6%).
A GAME OF SPECIALTY POINTS ...Bloomsburg's contest against Slippery Rock proved to be a game that provided some lopsided margins in some specialty categories. Bloomsburg took advantage of 17 Slippery Rock turnovers and turned them into 26 points. Meanwhile, The Rock could score just four points off of nine Husky miscues. On the flip side, Slippery Rock had 22 offensive rebounds and turned those into 25 second-chance points. The Huskies, meanwhile, had only seven offensive boards and did not convert a second-chance opportunity in the game. Then, at Kutztown, the Golden Bears scored 29 fast break points compared to Bloomsburg's two. The Huskies also struggled from the bench, getting a season-low 12 points from their reserves. Meanwhile, Kutztown had 42 points from its bench on Saturday.
GARNERING SOME MORE SCORING ...Senior
Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) has rapidly climbed up the team's scoring list over the course of the last five games as he now ranks third on the team in scoring (8.2 ppg) after posting five double-digit scoring outputs in the last six contests. During the stretch, Garner dropped in a career-best 17 in the win over Mansfield on December 19. Over the last six games, Garner has scored 79 points (13.2 ppg) on 32-of-59 (54.2%) from the field and 8-of-17 (47.1%) 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 six of his double-digit scoring efforts this season have come over the course of the last nine games.
DEPTH PERCEPTION ...Bloomsburg is getting production from a number of different players this season as 12 of the 15 players who have seenaction in at least one game this year have registered at least 19 points - and all 15 have scored at least one point. Despite only 12 points on Saturday at Kutztown, the Bloomsburg bench has scored 375 points this season, an average of 26.8 points per game and 36.0% of the team's scoring. The bench has outscored the opponents' bench in eight of the first 14 games and by a total margin of 375-370.
ALL-AROUND CAREER ...Senior
Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) is quietly putting together a fine career in a Bloomsburg uniform. This season, he ranks fourth on the team in scoring by averaging 7.7 points per game. He is also third on the team in assists with 18 (1.3 per game) and leads the team, and is tied for 10th in the conference, with 22 steals (1.6 per game). He is climbing a number of program career leaderboards including being ranked fifth in career steals with 159. He needs six to tie Trevon Johnson (2008-12) for fourth on the all-time list. His 216 career assists are closing in on being in the top ten in that department and he needs 143 points to become the 29th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.
LIFE AT THE LINE ...Bloomsburg has attempted 378 foul shots this season - an average of 27.0 attempts per game. The Huskies have made 270 free throws for a 71.4% shooting percentage - sixth-best in the PSAC. Over the last 12 games, the Huskies have averaged 28.7 trips to the charity stripe and are shooting at a 71.8% clip (247-344).
NOT LYONS ABOUT THAT EFFORT ...Redshirt senior
Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) had his best game of the season at Kutztown on Saturday. He scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed a season-best eight rebounds in the loss. It was only his second double-digit scoring effort of the season and his first since the season-opening win over Penn State Hazleton on November 13. In the middle 12 games, Lyons had scored just 50 points (4.2 ppg) and grabbed 31 rebounds (2.6 rpg). Lyons is now 15 points away from 500 for his career. He leads the team in field goal percentage at 50.0% (34-of-68).
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DIGGING HIS PERFORMANCE ...Transferring in from Prince George's Community College during the summer, junior
Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) leads the team in assists with 56 (4.0 per game) and is second on the team in scoring (9.2 points per game). He recorded nine assists in a win over Gannon on December 5 but then became the first Husky with at least ten assists in a game since
Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) had ten against Mansfield on January 23, 2013 when he dished out ten helpers in the win over Mansfield on December 19. He is tied for ninth in the conference in assists (4.0) and is sixth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.9). He has also recorded six double-digit scoring efforts with a season-high of 16 coming against East Stroudsburg on December 1.
MALIK-MALIK WITH DOUBLE-DOUBLES ... Â
The Huskies have only had two players record a double-double through 14 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 then recorded a career-high 14 rebounds in the loss at Edinboro - just the fourth time this season that a Husky has recorded at least ten rebounds in a game.
MORE ON MORTELLITE ...Despite averaging 26.0 minutes per game,
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game. That figure has him fifth in the PSAC and first among players in the Eastern Division. 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 63 triples (26 regular season games). The school record is 82 held by Jay DeShields during the 2001-02 campaign. His 85 career three-pointers have him closing in on the top ten in the program's career leaderboard.
SANOW CLOSING IN ON SECOND-PLACE IN CAREER WINS ...Head coach
John Sanow is in his tenth season as the head coach of the Bloomsburg men's basketball program and has guided the Huskies to a 108-148 overall record to date - third in Bloomsburg history among career wins. Sanow needs five victories to pass Harold S. Shelly who won 112 games with the Huskies from 1949-1960. However, Sanow has a long time to catch the program's all-time leader, Charlie Chronister, who compiled 559 victores from 1971-2002.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE ...Bloomsburg returns home to Nelson Field House on Saturday, Janaury 16, when it hosts Lock Haven. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
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