BOX SCORE        PLAY-BY-PLAY

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.—The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team placed four players in double figures, but fell to Division I Rider University, 83-68, in an exhibition game on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Huskies got out of the gate quickly with Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) hitting a 3-pointer followed by a layup from Carnell McGirt (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic (Valley Forge Military Academy)) to lead 5-2 through the first two minutes of action. The Broncs came roaring back using a 13-2 run to go on top 15-7 with just over 14 minutes left in the half.
 
Bloomsburg put together a mini 8-0 run of its own to knot the game at 15-15. Mortellite, Alex Prislupsky (Olyphant, Pa./Mid-Valley) both drained 3-pointers and Khyree Hunt-Hawkins (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington (Baltimore City CC)) had alayup to rally the Huskies. Later in the half with the Broncs back on top, 27-24, Bloomsburg used a  5-0 run to take its first lead since early in the game. A traditional 3-point play by Karonn Davis (Philadelphia, Pa./Friends' Central (Niagara Univ.)) put Bloomsburg on top 29-27 with 3:40 to go in the half. Rider, though, held the Huskies scoreless for the final 3:40 of the period and went to the locker room leading, 38-29.
 
In the opening minutes of the second half the Huskies narrowed the gap back to five points, 42-37, on consecutive buckets by Mortellite, Davis and McGirt. But that would be as close as the Huskies would get. Rider slowly built its lead to as many as 25 points before settling for the 15-point victory.
 
Mortellite led the Huskies with 14 points, while Hunt-Hawkins came off the bench to score 12 points. Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy (Prince George's CC)) and Prislupsky each added 10 points for Bloomsburg. As a team the Huskies shot 36 percent from the floor (21-58), 44 percent from 3-point range (8-18) and turned the ball over just 13 times.
 
Rider got a game-high 18 points from Jimmie Taylor, while Dimencio Vaughn scored 11 and Xavier Lundy 10.
 
The Huskies open the 2016-17 season on Friday at Penn State-Hazleton starting at 7 p.m.