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CHEYNEY, Pa. – Redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) found his stroke on Wednesday night, pouring in a game-high 28 points to lift the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team to a 74-61 victory over a pesky Cheyney team at Alfred Cope Hall. The win was the third straight victory for the Huskies, who improved to 10-7 overall and 8-5 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division. The Wolves fell to 2-14 overall and 1-12 in league play.
 
The three-game winning streak by the Huskies is the team's longest of the season and marks the longest since winning six straight to begin the 2014-15 regular season (November 14, 2014 – December 1, 2014).
 
Mortellite went 10-of-16 from the field and knocked down a season-high five three-pointers on six attempts. He added a perfect 3-of-3 effort from the charity stripe among his 28 points. The outing was three points shy of the season-high 31 he scored against Seton Hill on November 21 and nine shy of his career-high 37 he scored against West Chester last season.
 
It was Mortellite's ninth 20-point game of the season.
 
Bloomsburg got off to a fast start, jumping out to an 11-1 lead after a triple by Mortellite with 15:42 left in the first half. But, the Wolves scored 14 of the game's next 19 points to cut the Bloomsburg lead to one, 16-15, with 9:05 remaining.
 
Sophomore Chandler Junk (Pennsburg/The Perkiomen School) nailed a three-pointer and redshirt senior Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville), who also had a strong effort on Wednesday night, converted a layup to put the Huskies back in front by six, 21-15, with 7:22 left in the opening twenty minutes. However, Cheyney came back again, this time scoring the next seven points to take its first lead of the game, 22-21, with six minutes left.
 
The Huskies went on a mini 10-5 run to close out the first half with a 31-27 advantage. Mortellite had six points during the spurt to finish with 11 first-half points.
 
Mortellite hit three triples in under two minutes just moments into the second half to extend Bloomsburg's lead to 45-34 with 15:52 left in regulation. But, the Wolves would not go quietly as they rattled off 14 of the next 20 points to cut the Husky lead to three, 51-48, with 11:11 left.
 
Cheyney kept the game close and trailed by only four, 59-55, with 5:16 left in regulation. The Huskies, however, closed out strong by outscoring the hosts, 15-6, the rest of the way to earn the 13-point victory. Redshirt freshman Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) scored all five of his points over the course of the final five minutes of regulation to keep the Huskies' lead intact.
 
The aforementioned Lyons had one of his best outings of the season, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds, and a career-high three blocks. It was his third double-digit scoring output of the season. Junior Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) also finished in double figures, chipping in 11 points and a game-high eight assists.
 
Juwan Mullen paced Cheyney with 16 points while Lakeem Duncan added 14 in a losing effort.
 
Bloomsburg shot 51.9% from the field and made 7-of-13 three-point attempts on the night. Meanwhile, Cheyney shot just 34.9% from the floor. The Wolves did, however, hold a slim 35-33 advantage in rebounds.
 
It was an extremely clean game as both teams turned the ball over just seven times. Bloomsburg scored 11 points off Cheyney's miscues while the Wolves could score just five points following Husky turnovers.
 
Bloomsburg will be off until Wednesday, January 27, when it hosts Shippensburg University at Nelson Field House. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.