LAKEWOOD, N.J. - The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team outscored Georgian Court University, 29-6, over the final ten minutes of regulation as the Huskies came from behind to knock off the Lions, 70-59, on Wednesday night at the Wellness Center Arena. Bloomsburg improved to 2-0 on the young season while Georgian Court dropped to 0-3.

Redshirt senior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) poured in a game-high 25 points including a perfect 9-of-9 from the foul line. He also pulled down a game-high ten rebounds for his second consecutive double-double to start the season. Mortellite hit two three-pointers on Wednesday night and now needs three triples to become the school's all-time leader in career threes made.

Senior Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School) and sophomore Austin Harriott (Philadelphia, Pa./Hun School) each chipped in 14 points to join Mortellite in double figures. Harriott grabbed seven rebounds while Rose added five boards and four blocked shots.

After Juwuan Carter gave Georgian Court its largest lead of the game, 53-41, on a layup with 10:08 left in regulation, the Huskies, who had struggled from the floor up to that point, got hot. Redshirt freshman Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) knocked down a triple - his only three points of the game - and sophomore Khary Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) converted a layup to put the Huskies to within 53-46 with 9:21 left. Omar Williams hit a layup to put the Lions back in front by nine before Bloomsburg went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to one, 55-54, with 6:33 left. Mauras and Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) accounted for all eight points during the run. Then, after Sean Barksdale nailed a three-pointer to put Georgian Court ahead 58-54 with 6:09 left, Bloomsburg scored the next 12 points to take a 66-58 lead with 1:18 remaining. Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) started the spurt with a jumper and Rose followed with a pair of free throws to tie the game at 58-58. Harriott gave the Huskies the lead for good on a layup with 4:40 left and then Bloomsburg did the rest of its damage from the foul line.

Barksdale hit a foul shot to pull Georgian Court to within seven, 66-59, with 47 seconds left but Harriott hit four consecutive foul shots in the closing seconds for the final margin. Bloomsburg went 12-for-12 from the foul line over the last 5:12 of regulation to keep the lead intact. All told, the Huskies went 16-of-17 from the charity stripe in the second half after making just 6-of-11 in the opening half.

The first twenty minutes went back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than five points. After Rose nailed his first collegiate three-pointer to give the Huskies a 6-3 lead, Georgian Court went on an 8-0 run to take an 11-6 edge with 14:31 left. The Huskies answered with a 10-4 run of their own to grab a 16-15 lead with 10:52 remaining. During the run, freshman Matthew Kachelries (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) and Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) hit consecutive three-pointers. Later in the half, each team exchanged 5-0 runs and, when the dust settled, the Huskies held a 25-24 lead at halftime.

Georgian Court opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 30-25 advantage with 18:21 remaining. Bloomsburg then scored seven of the game's next 11 points to pull within two, 34-32, after a pair of foul shots from Harriott with 16:52 left. The Lions got back-to-back triples from Tony Ellington, Jr. and Omar Williams to extend their lead to 40-32 before the Huskies answered with a 7-0 spurt to get to within 40-39. Rose accounted for five of the seven points during the run.

The hosts, however, outscored the Huskies, 13-2, over the next four-and-a-half minutes to grab their largest lead of the night.

The Huskies shot just 21-of-64 from the field (32.8%) but made up for the cold shooting by out-rebounding the Lions, 48-32, including a 16-5 edge in offensive boards. Georgian Court didn't fare much better shooting as it shot 37.3% on 22-of-59 from the field. The 11-point difference came from the foul line - both teams shot 78.6% from the stripe but the Huskies went 22-of-28 while the Lions were 11-of-14.

Caleb Bowser led Georgian Court with 19 points while Williams chipped in with 18.

Bloomsburg will jump right into conference action with a pair of crossover games on Saturday, November 18, and Sunday, November 19. The Huskies will travel to Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday before heading to IUP to battle the Crimson Hawks on Sunday. Tip-offs this weekend are scheduled for 3:00 p.m. both afternoons.