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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Senior Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) scored a career-high 23 points and redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) added 20 to lift the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team to a 96-76 victory at Lock Haven University on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies, who tied a season-high in points with 96, improved to 15-8 overall and 13-6 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings. The Bald Eagles dropped to 12-12 overall and 8-12 in league play.

Saturday's victory marked Bloomsburg's 100th victory in the all-time series against Lock Haven (100-35). More importantly, the Huskies have now won three straight and eight of their last nine and, coupled with East Stroudsburg's loss to Kutztown on Saturday, moved into a tie for third place in the division standings with three regular season games remaining.

Garner shot 9-of-11 from the field surpassing his previous high of 20 points he scored in the overtime victory over Kutztown on Wednesday, February 10. Meanwhile, Mortellite went 6-of-9 from the field and made three triples en route to his 13th game of at least 20 points this season.

Bloomsburg got off to a blazing start and took a 50-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Lock Haven scored the first two points of the game but then watched Bloomsburg score the next 12 points to take a 12-2 lead with 15:56 left in the opening half. Senior Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) sparked the run with five points.

But, the Bald Eagles responded with 12 of the game's next 13 points and, after Lamin Fulton nailed a three-pointer with 12:26 left, Lock Haven found itself ahead by one, 14-13.

Bloomsburg bounced back with a 12-4 run to take a 25-18 lead with 9:22 left in the opening half. Sophomore Alex Prislupsky (Olyphant/Mid-Valley) had five points during the spurt. Lock Haven scored the next four points to cut the lead to three, 25-22, before the Huskies closed out the half on a 25-10 run to lead by 18 at the break.

Mortellite led the Huskies with 14 points in the first half while redshirt senior Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) added eight points in the opening twenty minutes.

Lock Haven got back into the game at the outset of the second half, opening with a 16-6 run to cut the Huskies' lead to eight, 56-48. But, Bloomsburg pulled away with a 14-1 run over the next four minutes to extend the lead to its biggest of the game, 70-49, with 11:37 left. Mortellite started the run with a three-pointer and redshirt freshman Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) ended the spurt with a triple which forced Lock Haven to take a timeout.

The hosts pulled to within 13 following the timeout but that would be as close as Lock Haven would get as Bloomsburg continued to shoot well and put the game out of reach.

The Huskies shot 33-of-55 (60.0%) from the field and made eight of their thirteen attempts from long distance (61.5%). Bloomsburg also held a 36-23 advantage in rebounding as Mortellite led the way with eight.

Lyons and Prislupsky also finished in double figures for the Huskies, chipping in 12 and 10 points respectively. Steward added nine points while Haigler finished with seven.

Lock Haven got a stellar performance from Brahieme Jackson who scored 27 points and grabbed 12 of the team's 23 rebounds. Ra'eese Hunt was the only other Bald Eagle in double figures as he finished with 10 in a losing effort.

Bloomsburg will return to action on Wednesday, February 17, when it hosts Millersville University at the Nelson Field House. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.