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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team remained winless in conference action on the season as it dropped a 77-74 decision to visiting Slippery Rock University at the Nelson Field House on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, the Huskies fell to 4-4 overall and 0-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings. The Rock, meanwhile, improved to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the PSAC West.

Sophomore Khary Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) led the Huskies with a career-high 21 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out three assists. Graduate student Hashim Moore (Sunrise, Fla./Hun School) continues to be on a roll as he chipped in with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Redshirt senior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) was held in check by the Slippery Rock defense for much of the afternoon but did finish with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds in a losing effort. Mortellite has now reached double figures in scoring in 69 of his last 73 games.

However, the Huskies had no answer for Slippery Rock's Micah Till who, despite a subpar 5-of-11 performance from the foul line, finished with 32 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Six of his 14 boards came on the offensive glass including a pair with The Rock leading by three with just over a minute left in regulation. He also buried a three-pointer - his third triple of the game - after a pair of offensive rebounds from teammate Brandon Simmons to put Slippery Rock ahead for good, 73-71, with 3:38 left.

The game was closely contested throughout as it featured 14 ties and 13 lead changes. In fact, neither team led by more than six points with the visitors holding that margin on four separate occasions. Bloomsburg's largest lead of the game was five points, three times, early in the opening half.

With the game tied at 8-8, Mortellite scored five consecutive points to give the Huskies a 13-8 advantage with 15:09 left in the opening half. Slippery Rock's Aaron McDonald cut the lead to two with a three-pointer before Mauras answered at the other end with a triple of his own to reclaim a five-point lead for the Huskies at 16-11. Then, with Bloomsburg still leading by four, 20-16, The Rock went on a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 26-20 advantage with 7:58 left in the first stanza. But, back came the Huskies as they answered with a 13-4 run over a nearly four-minute span to take a 33-30 lead with 4:12 left in the opening twenty minutes. Mauras and Moore combined for nine of the points during the spurt.

Slippery Rock countered with a 10-4 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes to take a 40-37 lead before a pair of foul shots from sophomore Austin Harriott (Philadelphia, Pa./Hun School) and from Mortellite eventually pulled the Huskies even at the break, 41-41.

The visitors came out firing in the second half and built up a 49-43 lead with 17:10 left after Till knocked down a triple. But, the Huskies responded with a 7-1 run to tie the game at 50-50 with 15:55 remaining as Mauras and Harriott each hit a pair of foul shots while freshman Ethan Houston (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) nailed a three-pointer during the stretch. Back-and-forth the teams went over the next 12 minutes with Slippery Rock again getting the lead to six, 58-52, with 13:46 left and the Huskies responding with three-point leads on two separate occasions, including a 71-68 edge with 4:43 left after a pair of foul shots from senior Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School).

But, McDonald nailed a jumper and Till gave the visitors the lead, 73-71, with his triple with 3:38 left in regulation. The Huskies tied the game at 73-73 on a pair of free throws from Mortellite, but The Rock closed it out with four of the game's final five points to escape.

Bloomsburg shot 24-of-59 (40.7%) from the field but made only 5-of-17 (29.4%) from beyond the arc. The five three-pointers marked a season-low for the Huskies. Bloomsburg outscored Slippery Rock, 21-11, from the foul line but the Huskies struggled from the line for the second straight day, going only 21-of-31 from the stripe (67.7%). The Rock shot 44.1% from the field and 35.3% from long range. Slippery Rock only converted 11-of-21 from the foul line (52.4%).

In addition to the three Huskies in double figures, Bloomsburg got eight points and seven rebounds from Harriott and seven points and five boards from Rose. Houston, seeing his first substantial playing time of the season, chipped in five points and five rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.

Till was helped by McDonald, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds while Khyree Wooten joined the duo in double figures with 10.

Bloomsburg will be looking for its first PSAC win of the season when it entertains Clarion University on Saturday, December 9 at the Nelson Field House in the team's final game before the Christmas holiday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.