#5 BLOOMSBURG (17-9, 15-7 PSAC East) at #4 SHIPPENSBURG (18-8, 15-7 PSAC East)
PSAC First Round Playoff Game
Saturday, February 27, 2016 - 3:00 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

THE SHIPPENSBURG SERIES ...
Bloomsburg leads the all-time series against Shippensburg, 102-69. The Huskies have won four of the last six, and six of the last ten meetings, between the two schools. Only two of Bloomsburg's last six wins against the Raiders have been decided by less than ten points. Meanwhile, three of Shippensburg's four wins over the last ten meetings have been decided by fewer than ten. The teams have met three times in the PSAC playoffs with Bloomsburg winning two of the three meetings. The last time the two got together in the postseason was in the 1991 semfinals when Shippensburg handed the Huskies a 69-67 loss. The programs also met in the 1989 semifinals (Bloomsburg 74-56) and the 1982 quarterfinals (Bloomsburg 43-41)

THIS SEASON AGAINST THE RAIDERS ...
The Huskies and the Raiders split the season series with each team winning on its home court. Bloomsburg posted an 81-70 victory over Shippensburg at the Nelson Field House on January 27 while the Raiders won this past Wednesday by the final of 84-77 at the Heiges Field House to clinch the fourth seed in the PSAC East.

1/27 - Bloomsburg led by one point at halftime but outscored Shippensburg, 46-36, in the second half to earn an 81-70 victory over the Raiders at Nelson Field House. 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. BLOOMSBURG (PTS-REB-AST): Garner (13-14-1), Lyons (9-6-1), Diggs (4-0-2), Mortellite (20-12-1), Haigler (6-4-1), Junk (0-0-0), Prislupsky (8-2-1), Greenlee (7-4-1), Steward (0-2-1), Rose (14-7-0)

2/24 - In a battle for a first round home playoff game, the Huskies dropped an 84-77 decision at Shippensburg to send Bloomsburg back to the Heiges Field House for a first-round game. The teams were tied 34-34 at halftime and Bloomsburg led by as many as eight points with 8:32 left in the second half before the Raiders mounted a comeback. Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) paced the Huskies with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. It was his 15th 20-point outing of the year. Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) tied a season-high with 16 points while Tyriek Steward (Wilkes-Barre/Elmer Meyers) (11) and Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) (10) also hit double figures. The game was incredibly even - Bloomsburg shot 43.9% from the floor while Shippensburg shot 42.9%. Rebounding was dead even at 36-36 while the Huskies held an 11-10 edge in turnovers. However, free throws proved costly for the Huskies as they went 12-of-22 from the line (54.5%) while the Raiders were 24-of-28 (85.7%). BLOOMSBURG (PTS-REB-AST): Mortellite (20-10-3), Garner (8-6-1), Lyons (16-4-1), Diggs (10-1-4), Haigler (3-2-1), Prislupsky (0-2-0), Greenlee (4-1-2), Steward (12-6-0), Rose (4-4-0)
 
SCOUTING SHIPPENSBURG ...
Shippensburg will be searching for its first playoff victory in ten years (2005-06) on Saturday. The Raiders have won four straight games and finished the regular season with an 18-8 overall record and a 15-7 mark in the PSAC Eastern Division. Most recently, Shippensburg defeated the Huskies, 84-77, on Wednesday at Heiges Field House to clinch the fourth seed and an opening round home playoff game. The Raiders are 11-2 this season with both home losses coming in back-to-back games against West Chester on December 1 and Indiana (PA) on December 4. Since those losses, Shippensburg is 9-0 at home and has outscored its opponents by 10.1 points per game. Dustin Sleva leads the Raiders by averaging 15.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He is tenth in the PSAC in scoring and he currently is tied for tops in the conference in rebounding. He is shooting just over 50% from the field and leads the team with 42 three-pointers (40.2%). Abe Massaley runs the offense and is averaging 13.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists (fourth in the PSAC). He is averaging 7.6 helpers over the last six contests. Antonio Kellem is also in double figures, averaging 11.7 points per game. Justin McCarthur, with his 22-point effort against the Huskies on Wednesday, is averaging 9.9 points per game and has made 36 three-pointers (second on the team). Shippensburg, in fact, features seven players on the roster who are averaging at least 6.0 points per game this season. As a team, the Raiders average 78.1 points per game on offense (tied for fifth in the PSAC) and they allow 73.3 points per game on defense (tied for ninth in the conference). Shippensburg is currently fourth in the conference in rebounding margin (+4.4) but is only tied for 12th in turnover margin (-1.15).

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 marked 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 6.6 points on the year which ranks fifth on the team. He added his third consecutive double-digit effort with 12 points at Shippensburg on Wednesday. He has really picked up his game over the last six contests as he is averaging 10.3 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 22-of-34 (.647) from the field. Over his first 20 contests, Steward averaged 5.5 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting just 33-of-87 (.379) from the floor.

ALL-AROUND CAREER ...
Charles Haigler (Charles Town, WV/Hargrave Military Academy) currently ranks fourth on the team in scoring by averaging 7.2 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 15th in the conference, with 34 steals (1.4 per game). He is climbing a number of program career leaderboards which include being ranked fourth in career steals with 171. He trails Aaron Carter (1998-02) by 10 to move into a tie for third on the all-time list. Haigler also needs 70 points to become the 29th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. For his career, Haigler averages 9.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.8 steals.

OUT LIKE A LYONS ...
Redshirt senior Wes Lyons (Millville/Millville) narrowly missed out on 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 6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds while ranking third on the team with 19 blocked shots this season. In the 15 games in the 2016 portion of the season, Lyons is averaging 7.9 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 18 games and is now averaging 9.8 points per game - second on the team. He enters Saturday's contest having scored 76 points in his last five games (15.2) 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 18 games, Garner has scored 220 points (12.2 ppg) on 85-of-182 (46.7%) from the field and 19-of-50 (38.0%) 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 7.0 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 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.

DOWNTOWN WITH THE HUSKIES ...
The Huskies have made at least one three-pointer in 153 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. From January 3 against Slippery Rock to January 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 11 games, the Huskies are 71-of-183 (38.8% - 6.4 per game) from long distance including a season-high ten three-pointers against Millersville on Wednesday, February 17.

WHAT A FINISH ...
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.

MORE ON MORTELLITE ...
Redshirt sophomore Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) is averaging 19.2 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. With four threes against Shippensburg on Wednesday, Mortellite tied Bob Coppolino (1987-91) for seventh on the school's all-time list. His four triples against the Raiders on Wednesday gave him 64 for the season - the seventh-highest single-season total in school history. Jay DeShields holds the school-record with 82 during the 2001-02 season. Mortellite has nailed at least one three-pointer in 44 of his 51 career games. Meanwhile, after not recording a double-double in his first 42 collegiate games, Mortellite has had four such outings in the last nine contests. He now needs only 145 points to join the 1,000-point club.

SHORTHANDED HUSKIES ...
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. They 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 666 points this season, an average of 25.6 points per game and 33.4% of the team's scoring. Bloomsburg has gotten at least 20 points from its bench in 22 of the team's 26 games this season.

DIGGING HIS PERFORMANCE ...
Junior Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy) leads the team in assists with 107 (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 sixth in the conference in assists per game (4.3) but is tied for first in the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.5). Over his last five contests, Diggs has recorded 26 assists and has only turned the ball over twice. He has recorded twelve 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 16 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 118-150 overall record to date - second in Bloomsburg history among career wins. Bloomsburg's 91-84 win at East Stroudsburg on January 30 was victory #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.

UP NEXT ...
The winner of the Bloomsburg-Shippensburg game will head to the Eastern Division's top-seed, Kutztown, on Tuesday night, March 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.