Men's Basketball | 1/29/2016 3:04:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG (11-7, 9-5 PSAC East) at EAST STROUDSBURG (15-3, 11-3 PSAC East)
Saturday, January 30, 2016 - 3:00 p.m.
East Stroudsburg, Pa. | Koehler Fieldhouse

GAME NOTES:
Bloomsburg at East Stroudsburg Game Notes

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

RELATED LINKS:
Bloomsburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics
East Stroudsburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics

LAST TIME OUT ...
Bloomsburg led by one point at halftime but then outscored Shippensburg, 46-36, in the second half to earn an 81-70 victory over the Raiders at Nelson Field House on Wednesday. The victory was the fourth straight for Bloomsburg and moved it into a tie for fourth place in the PSAC East with Shippensburg. The Raiders led for much of the first half until Yahmir Greenlee (Philadelphia/Boys Latin) sparked the Huskies off the bench with seven points in 1:14 late in the half to put Bloomsburg ahead. The Huskies never trailed in the second as they pulled away for the 11-point win. Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) recorded his first career double-double, leading the way with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) also had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. The Huskies also got a career-high 14 points off the bench from Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, DE/Sanford School) in the victory. Shippensburg had four players in double figures, led by Dustin Sleva who had 19 points and 17 rebounds.

THE EAST STROUDSBURG SERIES ...
Bloomsburg leads the all-time series by a 92-68 margin but has dropped the last seven meetings between the two schools, including a 91-74 loss back on December 1. Bloomsburg's last victory over East Stroudsburg came on February 22, 2012 - an 80-78 victory at Nelson Field House. Since that victory, the Huskies are 0-7 against the Warriors and have been outscored by an average score of 89-66. Only one of the last seven meetings has been decided by fewer than ten points.

LAST MEETING AGAINST EAST STROUDSBURG ...
Bloomsburg shot just 24.2% in the first half and fell behind by a 42-30 margin at the break. The Warriors led by as many as 28 points with 7:18 left in regulation before Bloomsburg closed the gap to make the score more respectable. East Stroudsburg nearly led the contest wire-to-wire as the Warriors held a lead for 38:04. The Warriors had five players in double digits. Redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) recorded his fifth consecutive 20-point effort, pouring in a game-high 24 points. He went 10-of-20 from the field and 4-of-10 from three-point range. Junior Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) scored a career-high 16 points and dished out six assists in the loss. Mortellite and Diggs combined for 40 of the team's 74 points and shot a combined 14-of-25 (56.0%) from the field. The rest of the team was 9-of-41 (21.9%).  
 
SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG ...
After starting the season 6-3, East Stroudsburg has rattled off nine straight victories to move to 15-3 overall and 11-3 in the PSAC East standings. The Warriors have been a scoring machine, averaging 90.6 points per game - tops in the PSAC - while shooting a league-best 49.7% from the floor. They also lead the conference in scoring margin, outscoring their opponents by an average of 20.3 points per game. East Stroudsburg is fourth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing only 70.2 points per game. The Warriors last played on Wednesday and posted a 94-51 home win over Millersville. The Warriors have scored at least 100 points five times and at least 90 points nine different times. East Stroudsburg has three players averaging in double figures, led by Rasheed Moore who scores 13.3 points per game. Jamal Nwaniemeka (12.9) and Will Brown (12.9) are also in double digits. The Warriors use a very balanced scoring attack as 11 players average at least four points per game. Steve Harris is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 8.7 boards per game. Najee Walls has 101 assists in 17 games (5.9 per game) - tops in the PSAC. The Warriors have also hit 157 three-pointers this season (8.7 per game) - second in the league.

DOWNTOWN WITH THE HUSKIES ...
The Huskies have made at least one three-pointer in 145 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, January 9 at Kutztown, 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. From January 3 against Slippery Rock to Janaury 13 at Millersville, Bloomsburg had made a total of 14 three-pointers (3.5 per game) and was shooting just 20.6% from long distance during the month of January. However, over the last three contests, the Huskies are 19-of-44 (43.2%) from long distance.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING ...
With its victory against Shippensburg on January 27, Bloomsburg enters on a four-game winning streak for the first time since beginning the 2014-15 season with six consecutive victories (November 14, 2014 to December 1, 2014). During the stretch, the Huskies have averaged 76.0 points per game on offense but are only allowing 60.0 points per game. The four-game streak is currently the second-longest in the East (East Stroudsburg, 9) and third in the PSAC (IUP, 9).

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE ...
Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) and Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) both recorded double-doubles in the 81-70 victory over Shippensburg on January 27. For Garner, it was his third double-double of the season while Mortellite recorded the first one of his collegiate career. Garner had 13 points and a team-high 14 rebounds while Mortellite scored a game-high 20 points to go along with 12 rebounds. The Huskies shattered their season-high with 54 rebounds in the win - 20 on the offensive glass.

COMING UP ROSES ...
Sophomore Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, DE/Sanford School) sparked the Huskies off the bench against Shippensburg on January 27, scoring a career-high 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 4-of-6 from the line. It was the first time that Rose had recorded at least ten points in a game in a Bloomsburg uniform. He became the 10th different player to hit double figures in a game this season. He added seven rebounds and three blocks in the victory. He entered the game averaging only 2.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in his first 17 games of the campaign.

FINDING HIS STROKE ...
Redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) had a huge game in the Huskies' 74-61 victory at Cheyney on January 20, pouring in a game-high 28 points to lift Bloomsburg to its third straight victory. He tied a career-high with 10 field goals and established a season-high with five three-pointers (six attempts) in the win. He has had back-to-back 20-point scoring efforts for the first time since recording 23 points against Lincoln on November 28 and 24 points against East Stroudsburg on December 1. In his first four games during the month of January, Mortellite struggled by making only 3-of-21 three-point attempts (14.3%). However, over the last three contests, Mortellite is back on track, making 10-of-16 from long distance (62.5%). Mortellite has 45 three-pointers this season which is tied for 19th on the school's single-season list. After making 51 treys last season, Mortellite is now 10th for most career triples with 96 - in only 43 career games.

OUT LIKE A LYONS ...
Redshirt senior Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) is closing out his collegiate career by putting together one of the best runs of his time with the Huskies. In the win over Cheyney on January 20, Lyons had 12 points, a season-high nine rebounds, and a career-high three blocks. From November 14 to January 6 (12 games), Lyons averaged only 4.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks. However, over his last five games, Lyons is averaging 9.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks as the Huskies have gone 4-1 during the stretch. He started the stretch with a season-high 16 points against Kutztown on January 9. He also leads the team in field goal percentage this season, making 50-of-96 shots (52.1%). With his 12 points against Cheyney on January 20, Lyons went over 500 points for his career and his six rebounds against Shippensburg on January 27 gave him 300.
 
GARNERING SOME ATTENTION ...
Senior Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) has rapidly climbed up the team's scoring list over the course of the last ten games as he now ranks third on the team in scoring (8.8 ppg) after posting eight double-digit scoring outputs in the last ten contests. During the stretch, Garner dropped in a career-best 17 in the win over Mansfield on December 19. Over the last ten games, Garner has scored 122 points (12.2 ppg) on 49-of-101 (48.5%) from the field and 11-of-30 (36.7%) 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. His rebounding is also up - he is averaging 7.8 rebounds over the last ten games after posting only 3.8 per game in his first eight.

ALL-AROUND CAREER ...
Senior Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) is putting the finishing touches on a nice all-around career in a Bloomsburg uniform. Haigler currently ranks fourth on the team in scoring by averaging 7.3 points per game. He is also third on the team in assists with 26 (1.4 per game) and leads the team, and is tied for 10th in the conference, with 27 steals (1.5 per game). He is climbing a number of program career leaderboards which includes being ranked fifth in career steals with 164. He needs one to tie Trevon Johnson (2008-12) for fourth on the all-time list and he needs 119 points to become the 29th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. For his career, Haigler averages 9.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.8 steals.

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 74 (4.1 per game) and is second on the team in scoring (9.3 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 10 against Mansfield on January 23, 2013 when he dished out ten helpers in the win over Mansfield on December 19. He is sixth in the conference in assists (4.1) and is fourth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.1). He has recorded nine double-digit scoring efforts with a season-high of 16 coming against East Stroudsburg on December 1 and has had three games with at least eight assists and ten contests with at least four helpers.

EPIC RUN ...
Bloomsburg got off to a sluggish start on Saturday, January 16, against Lock Haven but then went on a remarkable run to earn a 78-49 victory over the Bald Eagles. Trailing 19-13 with 8:49 left in the first half, Bloomsburg outscored Lock Haven 31-2 over the next 12:34 to take a 44-21 lead with 16:15 left in regulation. The Huskies trailed 19-18 with 5:11 left in the opening half and scored the next 26 points in the game, limiting Lock Haven to zero points in 8:56 of game action.

SPECIALTY SCORING ...
Since the turn of the calendar, Bloomsburg has played in some games that have provided lopsided margins in some specialty categories. Bloomsburg took advantage of 17 Slippery Rock turnovers and turned them into 26 points on Sunday, January 3. 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 on January 9, 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. Finally, on Wednesday, January 13, at Millersville, Bloomsburg outscored the Marauders in points off turnovers, 24-4.

DEPTH PERCEPTION ...
Bloomsburg is getting production from a number of different players this season as 13 of the 15 players that have played at least one game this year has registered at least 13 points - and all 15 have scored at least three points. The Bloomsburg bench has scored 465 points this season, an average of 25.8 points per game and 34.5% of the team's scoring. The bench has outscored the opponents' bench in 10-of-18 games and by a total margin of 465-449.

MORE ON MORTELLITE ...
After leading the team in scoring as a rookie last season, Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) again leads the team in scoring this year, 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 was the 14th-highest figure in program history. This season, Mortellite is on pace for 65 triples (26 regular season games). The school record is 82 held by Jay DeShields during the 2001-02 campaign. He has moved into the top ten in career three-pointers with 96.

SANOW TIES SHELLY FOR 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 112-148 overall record to date - tied for second in Bloomsburg history among career wins. Bloomsburg's 81-70 victory over Shippensburg on January 27 was Sanow's 112th career win, tying him with 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 ...
The Huskies will return home on Wednesday, February 3 when they entertain West Chester at Nelson Field House. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The two teams met back on December 16 in West Chester with the Golden Rams hanging on for an 81-76 win over Bloomsburg.