JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action on Saturday afternoon with a 92-65 loss at Pitt-Johnstown. With the setback, the Huskies fell to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC Eastern Division standings. The Mountain Cats improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the west.

Sophomore Khary Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) posted his best game in a Bloomsburg uniform as he led the Huskies with 20 points on the afternoon - 13 of which came during the first half. Redshirt sophomore Sam Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) was the only other player in double figures as he chipped in 10 points.

For the second consecutive season, the Mountain Cat defense shut down redshirt senior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton). The Huskies' leading scorer through the first two games was held to nine points on Saturday and, in the last two games against Pitt-Johnstown, the sharpshooter has scored a total of 17 points. Mortellite was held scoreless in the second half on Saturday.

Mortellite had just one triple on the day and now needs two to become the school's all-time leader in career three-pointers.

The hosts jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Mauras knocked down a three-pointer two minutes into the contest to get the Huskies on the board. After Pitt-Johnstown's Josh Wise hit a layup on the next possession to give the Mountain Cats an 8-3 lead, Bloomsburg went on a 9-0 run to take a 12-8 advantage with 14:55 left in the first half. Graduate student Hashim Moore (Sunrise, Fla./Hun School) scored four points during the spurt while Mauras connected on his second three-pointer of the first half.

After a basket by Mortellite gave the Huskies a 17-13 lead with 13:39 left in the opening stanza, Pitt-Johnstown went on an 8-0 run to take a 21-17 advantage less than two minutes later. Mauras hit a pair of foul shots and Mortellite knocked down a jumper to tie the game at 21-21 with 10:49 left. But, Dale Clancy's three-pointer on Pitt-Johnstown's next possession gave the Mountain Cats a 24-21 lead and the Huskies would never regain the lead.

Pitt-Johnstown's Marcin Wiszomirski finished off the scoring in the first half by converting a three-point play with 10 seconds left. The Mountain Cats closed out the half outscoring the Huskies, 22-11, after Clancy's three-pointer to take a 46-32 lead at the break.

The Huskies got as close as seven points, 59-52, with 12:07 left after a pair of free throws from Mauras. But, the Mountain Cats turned on the jets again and outscored the Huskies, 33-13, over the final 12 minutes of regulation to pull away.

After a strong-shooting first half, Bloomsburg went ice cold in the second half and made only 10-of-32 from the field in the second half to finish shooting 39.6% for the game (21-of-53). Mauras finished 6-of-12 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range. Saxton, meanwhile, hit 4-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Senior Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds to go along with nine points while Mortellite had a team-high four assists. Moore finished with a season-high seven points.

Drew Magestro scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures for Pitt-Johnstown, which shot 59.0% from the field for the game. Isaac Vescovi added 18 points in the victory.

The Huskies will be in action again on Sunday afternoon when it heads to IUP. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.