Men's Basketball | 11/9/2017 6:07:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG (0-0, 0-0 PSAC East) vs PENN STATE HAZLETON (1-0, 0-0 USCAA)
Friday, November 10, 2017 - 7:00 p.m.
Bloomsburg, Pa. | Nelson Field House

 GAME COVERAGE:
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RELATED LINKS:
Bloomsburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Penn State Hazleton - Roster | Schedule | Statistics

LAST TIME OUT ...
Bloomsburg had four players in double figures but ultimately dropped an 84-67 decision at Division I Penn State University on Sunday afternoon, November 5, 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 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.

SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG ...
Head coach John Sanow will be entering his 12th season at the helm of the Huskies and he has guided the team to a 133-163 overall record in his first 11 years. Bloomsburg has only three returners from last year's team that finished 15-12 overall and 11-11 in divisional play. The Huskies earned a home game in the opening round of the PSAC tournament but dropped an 84-77 decision to West Chester University. It marked the second straight year that the Huskies made the conference playoffs.

Bloomsburg was picked to finish seventh in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division according to the preseason coaches poll.

"Everyone looks at those to see what expectations are for teams in the PSAC," said Sanow. "I wasn't really surprised by the rankings since we have so many new players and with only one full-time starter back, I thought we would be picked sixth or seventh to start the year. Our guys have been working really hard on the floor and in the weight room and we are excited to get the season underway."

Ten newcomers join the team this season with three of those - Hashim Moore (Sunrise, Fla./Hun School), Austin Harriott (Philadelphia, Pa./Hun School), and Khary Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) - transferring in from Division I schools. Harriott spent one season at Loyola (Md.) while Mauras played a year at Old Dominion. The third Division I transfer, Moore, will be a graduate student after playing both basketball and football during his undergraduate career at Princeton University.

"Hashim (Moore) has a lot of experience as he comes in as a graduate student from Princeton where he played both basketball and football," added Sanow. "Even though he is new here, we will be looking for him to be a leader because of the experience he brings - both academically and athletically. We are excited that he is here. Austin (Harriott) is an athlete that does his best work in transition. He is an excellent rebounder and defender and can really pass the ball. Khary (Mauras) is a high-motor and highly-competitive young man. He brings a lot of energy and we will go as he goes. Our freshmen are learning what it takes to be a student-athlete at the Division II level. They are learning quickly and we understand that we will need them to step in and hopefully make an impact this season."

Returning for the Huskies are redshirt senior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton), senior Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School), and redshirt sophomore Sam Saxton (York, Pa./Central York). Mortellite's younger brother, Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton), is also on this year's roster after redshirting as a true freshman a season ago.

The elder Mortellite finished as the NCAA Division II leader in three-pointers made per game (4.07) last year and earned All-PSAC Eastern Division First Team accolades for the second consecutive season. He was also honored by the NABC as a Second Team All-District selection – the first player from Bloomsburg to earn an NABC honor since Dontahe Jordan in 2011-12. The sharpshooter led the Huskies in scoring, averaging 22.7 points per game becoming the first Huskies' player since Tom Barlow, who averaged 20.3 points per game during the 2002-03 season, to average at least 20 points per game in a single campaign. His 22.7 points per game average was the third-highest figure in the PSAC. Mortellite broke the single-season school record for points with 613 last year which broke the previous record of 600 set by Mike Ellzy during the 1996-97 season. He has moved into fourth place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,484 points. He needs 428 points to surpass Ellzy's school-record of 1,911. Mortellite also broke the school-record for most threes made in a season (110) and three-point attempts in a season (255). He has also moved into second on the school's all-time career three-pointers made list with 227. He needs 11 to break Lorenzo Christmas' record of 237 he set from 2010 to 2014.

"We are asking a lot of Christian (Mortellite) this year to lead our young guys on- and off-the-floor," added Sanow. "He has a lot of experience over the course of the five years he has been here and has been in a lot of big games. He understands what lies ahead and the expectations, not only of what the staff has put on him, but what he has put on himself. He's looking to have a big year and we are looking forward to having him to have that type of season going out as a senior. But, we are certainly looking at him as a leader this season."
 
Expected to provide help for Mortellite are Rose and Saxton. Rose averaged career-highs in points (7.4) and rebounds (3.9) while blocking 28 shots in 27 games last season. The senior has averaged 5.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in two seasons with the Huskies. He also has 69 blocked shots for his two-year career. Saxton, meanwhile, averaged 4.6 points and made 17-of-33 three-pointers last season.

"Both Sam (Saxton) and Kyle-Michael (Rose) got a lot of experience last year," said Sanow. "They both had really good summers and both really worked hard during the offseason to improve their overall game. We have seen that during practice and their confidence is at a really high level. Peyton (Mortellite) sat out last year but he got bigger, stronger, and more experience over the summer. He can really shoot the ball and we'll be looking for him to help us a lot this year. We're looking forward to him getting in the lineup after his redshirt season."

SCOUTING PENN STATE HAZLETON ...
Penn State Hazleton is coming off an 8-15 record a year ago, finishing the year averaging 72.4 points per game and shooting 41.7% from the field.  The Nittany Lions will be without their leading scorer from a year ago, Jacob Solano.  Solano averaged 21.3 points per game and accounted for 425 of the Lions total points. 

In their first game of the season against Luzerne County Community College, the Nittany Lions came out victorious with an 88-69 decision over the Trailblazers.  Senior point guard Royce Brathwaite led the team in scoring with 22 points off a 10-of-16 shooting performance.  Penn State Hazleton also received strong performances from the bench in freshman Brandon Mohammed and junior Christopher Adames.  Mohammed finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and recording 16 rebounds. Adames accounted for 16 of the team's total points and protected the rim by redirecting three shots and pulling down nine rebounds.

UP NEXT ...
The matchup with Penn State Hazleton will be one of two non-conference games before the Huskies open PSAC play at the University of Pitt-Johnstown. After Friday's game, the Huskies will be back in action on Wednesday, November 15 when they travel to Georgian Court University in Lakewood, New Jersey. Bloomsburg will not return to Nelson Field House until Tuesday, November 21 when it hosts Holy Family University at 7:00 p.m.