BLOOMSBURG (17-8, 15-6 PSAC East) at SHIPPENSBURG (17-8, 14-7 PSAC East)
Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - 8:00 p.m.
Shippensburg, Pa. | Heiges Field House

GAME NOTES:
Bloomsburg at Shippensburg Game Notes

GAME COVERAGE:
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/ship/mbball/
Live Audio (WHLM-AM): http://www.whlmam.com
Live Video: http://ship.edu/goraiders

RELATED LINKS:
Bloomsburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Shippensburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics

LAST TIME OUT ...
Senior Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) scored 21 points and redshirt freshman Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) added a career-high 16 points as Bloomsburg held off Cheyney, 76-72, on Saturday afternoon at the Nelson Field House. Redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) chipped in with 15 points for the Huskies, who won for the tenth time in their last eleven games. Mortellite has now reached double figures in scoring in 35 of his last 36 games. Bloomsburg honored its four seniors prior to the opening tip-off – Garner, Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville), Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy), and Ashkan Naderi (Herndon, VA/Herndon) – and the quartet combined for 37 points in the victory. Haigler finished with nine points, five rebounds, and five assists while Lyons added seven points, three steals, and two blocks in the victory. Naderi made his first start of the season, second of his career, and had an assist in four minutes. Bloomsburg led by four at halftime, and led by as many as ten early in the second half, but needed two free-throws from sophomore Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, DE/Sanford School) (his only points of the game) with seven seconds remaining to seal the victory. Juwan Mullen led Cheyney with 23 points.

THE SHIPPENSBURG SERIES ...
Bloomsburg leads the all-time series against Shippensburg, 102-68. The Huskies have won four of the last five, and seven of the last ten, between the two schools. Only two of Bloomsburg's last seven wins against the Raiders have been decided by less than ten points. Meanwhile, two of Shippensburg's three wins over the last ten meetings have been decided by fewer than ten.

LAST MEETING AGAINST SHIPPENSBURG ...
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, January 27. 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.
 
SCOUTING SHIPPENSBURG ...
The Raiders have won three straight games and currently sport a 17-8 overall record and a 14-7 in the PSAC Eastern Division. Most recently, Shippensburg defeated Lock Haven, 83-69, last Wednesday, February 17, at Heiges Field House where it is 10-2 this season. Both home losses for the Raiders came in back-to-back games against West Chester on December 1 and Indiana (PA) on December 4. Since those losses, Shippensburg is 8-0 at home. Dustin Sleva leads the Raiders by averaging 15.4 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. He is tied for ninth in the PSAC in scoring and he currently leads the conference in rebounding. He is shooting just over 50% from the field and leads the team with 41 three-pointers (40.2%). Abe Massaley runs the offense and is averaging 13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists (fourth in the PSAC). Antonio Kellem is also in double figures, averaging 12.2 points per game. As a team, the Raiders average 77.8 points per game on offense and allow 73.2 points per game on defense. Shippensburg is currently fourth in the conference in rebounding margin (+4.6) but is only 12th in turnover margin (-1.6).  

DOWNTOWN WITH THE HUSKIES ...
The Huskies have made at least one three-pointer in 152 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 ten contests, the Huskies are 64-of-165 (38.8% - 6.4 per game) from long distance including a season-high ten three-pointers against Millersville on Wednesday, February 17.

STEWARD NAMED PSAC EAST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK ...
Redshirt freshman Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) was named the PSAC Eastern Division Freshman of the Week on Monday, February 22. It marks Steward's first career weekly honor from the conference. Steward put together back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts in helping the Huskies to a pair of victories last week. He finished the week by averaging 13.0 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 10-of-13 (.769) from the field and 3-of-5 (.600) from three-point range. He had ten points and grabbed three rebounds in 17 minutes in the Huskies' 85-59 win over Millersville on Wednesday and then scored a career-high 16 points (7-of-9 from the field) and grabbed four boards in the 76-72 victory over Cheyney on Saturday.

HEATING UP ...
Steward's two double-digit outings last week were his sixth and seventh double-digit efforts of the season and he now averages 6.4 points on the year which ranks fifth on the team. However, he has really picked up his game over the last five contests as he is averaging 10.0 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 18-of-27 (.667) from the field. Over his first 20 contests, Steward was averaging 5.5 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting just 33-of-87 (.379) from the floor.

THANK YOU SENIORS ...
Bloomsburg honored four seniors prior to Saturday's final home game of the regular season against Cheyney - Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy), Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy), Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville), and Ashkan Naderi (Herndon, VA/Herndon). Haigler and Lyons are four-year members of the team and have combined to score 1,488 points and grab 690 rebounds. Garner joined the team this season and is second on the team in scoring by averaging 9.9 points per game and is first in rebounding at 6.0 boards per contest. Naderi has been on the squad for two seasons and has scored 64 points and dished out 29 assists in 25 games. He had a career-high of 11 points in a win over Cheyney (November 19, 2014) last season.

ALL-AROUND CAREER ...
Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) currently ranks fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 7.4 points per game. He is also third on the team in assists with 41 (1.7 per game) and leads the team, and is tied for 20th in the conference, with 32 steals (1.3 per game). He is climbing a number of program career leaderboards which include being ranked fourth in career steals with 169. He trails Aaron Carter (1998-02) by 12 to move into a tie for third on the all-time list. Haigler also needs 73 points to become the 29th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. For his career, Haigler averages 9.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.8 steals.

OUT LIKE A LYONS ...
Redshirt senior Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) narrowly missed his first double-double of the season (third of his career) when he finished with 11 points and nine rebounds in the win over Millersville on Wednesday, February 17. He is averaging 6.2 points and 3.7 rebounds while ranking third on the team with 19 blocked shots this season. In the 14 games in the 2016 portion of the season, Lyons is averaging 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds while posting 14 of his 19 blocked shots. In the 11 games in 2015, Lyons averaged 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds.

GARNERING SOME ATTENTION ...
Senior Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) has 12 double-digit scoring outputs in his last 17 games and is now averaging 9.9 points per game - second on the team. He entered Saturday's contest having scored 68 points in his last four games (17.0) with his best output coming on February 13 when he posted a career-high 23 points in the win at Lock Haven. Over the last 17 games, Garner has scored 212 points (12.5 ppg) on 82-of-174 (47.1%) from the field and 18-of-48 (37.5%) 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 (35.7%) and 0-of-9 from three-point range. His rebounding is also up - he is averaging 7.1 rebounds over the last 17 games after posting only 3.8 per game in his first eight.

GARNER AND MORTELLITE SHOW ...
It was the Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) and Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) show on Wednesday, February 10 as the Huskies pulled off an 81-77 overtime win over Kutztown. The duo combined for 45 of Bloomsburg's 81 points and 23 of the team's 45 rebounds in the victory. Mortellite finished with 25 points and a career-high 13 rebounds while Garner posted a then-career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. It was the second time this season that they both had double-doubles in the same game - they also accomplished the feat in the 81-70 win over Shippensburg on January 27. Then, on Saturday, February 13, the duo combined for 43 points in the 96-76 win at Lock Haven. In that contest, Garner bested his career-high with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting while Mortellite added 20 on 6-of-9 from the field.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE ...
With Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy) and Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) posting double-doubles during the victory over Kutztown on February 10, Bloomsburg, as a team, has now had eight double-doubles this season. Garner leads the team with four while Mortellite is right behind with three. Malik Sneed (Washington, D.C./Spingarn) has also had a double-double for the Huskies this season. All three of Mortellite's double-doubles have come in the last eight games while Garner has had three of his four double-doubles over the last eleven contests.

GREENLEE PROVIDES SPARK ...
Junior Yahmir Greenlee (Philadelphia/Boys Latin) became the 11th different player this season to score in double figures when he dropped in 11 points in the loss to West Chester on February 3. He added a career-high 14 points in the win at Mansfield on Saturday, February 6. Despite only averaging 12.5 minutes in 16 games this season, Greenlee is averaging 4.8 points per contest. Pro-rated to 40 minutes, Greenlee would be the team's fourth-leading scorer at 15.2 points per 40 minutes. He would trail only Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton)'s 26.3, Malik Garner (Philadelphia/Chestnut Hill Academy)'s 15.6, and Chandler Junk (Pennsburg/The Perkiomen School)'s 15.3 pro-rated scoring averages.

THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE ...
The overtime victory over Kutztown on February 10 marked the first time Bloomsburg had played in an overtime game since suffering a 78-76 loss at home against Mansfield on February 14, 2015. It was the first overtime win by the Huskies since knocking off Adelphi, 70-68, on November 15, 2014. In the contest against the Golden Bears, no lead was bigger than seven points for either team (Kutztown - 60-53) and the teams battled through six ties and 16 lead changes.

WHAT A FINISH ...
Redshirt freshman Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) finished with 13 points against Mansfield on Saturday, February 6, with all 13 of his points coming in the final 8:18 of regulation. Steward helped the Huskies extend, what was a three-point lead at the time, to as many as 16 before settling for an eight-point win. It was his first double-digit scoring game since scoring 15 against West Chester on December 16.

SHORTHANDED HUSKIES ...
For the first time this season, Bloomsburg had to play without its starting point guard, Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy), and its starting shooting guard, Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy), on Saturday, February 6, at Mansfield. However, the Huskies were able to leave Mansfield with a 79-71 victory thanks, in large part, to junior Yahmir Greenlee (Philadelphia/Boys Latin) and sophomore Alex Prislupsky (Olyphant/Mid-Valley) who stepped into the starting roles. Greenlee started for the first time as a Husky and scored a career-high 14 points while adding four rebounds and four assists. Prislupsky earned his seventh start of the year and scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. The duo were two of five players to reach double figures in scoring for the contest (Mortellite, 17; Steward, 13; Rose, 10) - the second time this season that Bloomsburg has had five in double figures. The other occurrence came on November 22 in the Huskies' 81-75 win at California (PA).

DEPTH PERCEPTION ...
Bloomsburg is getting production from a number of different players this season as 13 of the 15 players who have played at least one game this year have registered at least 19 points - and all 15 have scored at least eight points. The Bloomsburg bench has scored 646 points this season, an average of 25.8 points per game and 33.7% of the team's scoring. Bloomsburg has gotten at least 20 points from its bench in 21 of the team's 25 games this season.

MORE ON MORTELLITE ...
Redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) is averaging 19.1 points per game this season which ranks fifth in the PSAC, but first in the Eastern Division. With two three-pointers at Mansfield on Saturday, February 6, he became just the ninth player in school history with at least 100 career triples. He needs four threes to tie Bob Coppolino (1987-91) for seventh on the school's all-time list. Mortellite buried five threes in the win over Millersville on Wednesday, February 17, and, after hitting two more against Cheyney on Saturday, he now has 60 for the season - tied for the 10th-highest single-season total in school history (Jay DeShields, 2000-01). Meanwhile, after not recording a double-double in his first 42 collegiate games, Mortellite has had three such outings in the last eight contests. He now needs only 165 points to join the 1,000-point club.

DIGGING HIS PERFORMANCE ...
Junior Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) leads the team in assists with 103 (4.3 per game) and is third on the team in scoring (9.2 points per game). He 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 tied for seventh in the conference in assists per game (4.3) but is tied for first in the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.5). He has recorded eleven double-digit scoring efforts with his season-high of 22 coming at East Stroudsburg on Janaury 30. Diggs has also had four games with at least eight assists and 15 contests with at least four helpers.

SANOW PASSES 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 118-149 overall record to date - second in Bloomsburg history among career wins. Bloomsburg's 91-84 win at East Stroudsburg on January 30 was #113, which moved him ahead of 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 has secured a spot in the PSAC Tournament and several scenarios are in play. If the Huskies win and East Stroudsburg loses to Millersville, the Huskies will be the #3 seed and will host Lock Haven on Saturday, February 27, in the opening round of the tournament. If the Huskies win and East Stroudsburg wins, then the Huskies will be the #4 seed and will host a rematch with Shippensburg on Saturday. If the Huskies lose, Bloomsburg will be the #5 seed and will travel to Shippensburg on Saturday.