Men's Basketball | 11/5/2017 2:52:00 PM

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team had four players in double figures but ultimately dropped an 84-67 decision at Division I Penn State University on Sunday afternoon in an exhibition contest at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Senior Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School) led the Huskies with 13 points in a team-high 36 minutes. Rose added five rebounds and blocked a pair of shots. Redshirt senior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) finished with 11 points while a pair of new faces - sophomore Khary Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) and freshman Matthew Kachelries (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) - chipped in ten points apiece. Mauras led the Huskies with five assists while sophomore Austin Harriott (Philadelphia, Pa./Hun School) paced Bloomsburg by pulling down seven rebounds.

Redshirt sophomore Sam Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) finished with nine points on 4-of-4 from the field (1-of-1 from long range) while graduate student Hashim Moore (Sunrise, Fla./Hun School) added six points, six rebounds, and a team-high three blocked shots. Harriott added five points to go along with his team-high seven boards.

Saxton gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead at the outset before the Nittany Lions went on a 15-5 run to take a 15-7 advantage with 14:52 left in the first half. Back-to-back baskets from Rose pulled the Huskies to within four at 15-11 but Penn State answered with eight of the game's next ten points as the lead ballooned to 23-13 with 11:03 left in the opening stanza.

Penn State worked the lead to 36-19 with 5:21 left in the first half before the Huskies went on a little spurt to pull within ten, 39-29, with just over two minutes remaining. During the 10-3 run, Saxton scored five points, Mauras hit a triple, and Moore added a layup.

But, the Nittany Lions went on a 9-0 run to close out the first half with a 48-29 advantage.

Penn State came out firing again to start the second half, building the lead to as many as 31 points, 72-41, with ten minutes remaining before the Huskies started to chip away. Bloomsburg outscored the Nittany Lions, 26-12, over the final ten minutes and finished the half outscoring the Nittany Lions, 38-36, but the 19-point deficit at halftime and the slow start to the second half proved too much to overcome.

Bloomsburg got as close as 13 points, 80-67, with 1:59 left on a three-pointer from redshirt freshman Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton), but the hosts scored the final two baskets for the final margin.

Bloomsburg shot 23-of-56 (41.1%) from the floor, hit 6-of-19 (31.6%) from long distance, and connected on 15-of-21 from the charity stripe (71.4%). The Nittany Lions, meanwhile, shot 48.5% from the field, 28% from deep, and 68.8% from the foul line. Penn State held a 41-31 edge on the glass and had 13 steals as it forced the Huskies into 17 turnovers.

The Nittany Lions had five players in double digits led by Shep Garner who finished with 17 points.

The Huskies are scheduled to open the regular season on Friday, November 10 against Penn State Hazleton at the Nelson Field House. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.