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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - It's becoming a nightly occurrence for redshirt junior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton).

Mortellite led the Huskies with 27 points and broke the school-record for most points in a single season as the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team closed out the regular season with an 82-79 victory over visiting Lock Haven University on Saturday afternoon at the Nelson Field House. With the win, coupled with West Chester's loss at Kutztown, the Huskies will host West Chester on Monday night to open the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament. Tip-off from the Nelson Field House will be at 7:00 p.m.

Bloomsburg finished the regular season with a 15-11 overall record and an 11-11 mark in the PSAC Eastern Division. The Bald Eagles dropped to 13-13 overall and 9-13 in league play and will head to East Stroudsburg on Monday night to open the postseason.

Mortellite's 27 points on Saturday afternoon gave him 605 for the season, breaking Mike Ellzy's previous record of 600 during the 1996-97 campaign. Ellzy is the program's all-time scoring leader with 1,911 career points, but Mortellite, who has one year left, is rapidly climbing the program's scoring list as he moved into sixth on the all-time list with 1,476 career points. On Saturday, he connected on five more three-pointers, extending his school-record to 108 for the season, and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line in the victory.

The Huskies, who honored their trio of seniors - Donell Diggs (Washington, D.C./Takoma Academy (Prince George's CC)), Yahmir Greenlee (Philadelphia, Pa./Boys Latin), and Malik Sneed (Washington, D.C./Spingarn (Prince George's CC)) - started slowly as Lock Haven built up as much as a six-point lead early and led until junior Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School (Highland CC)) knocked down a jumper to give the Huskies a 24-23 advantage with 7:39 left in the opening half. From that point, the teams exchanged baskets with the Huskies building a five-point lead, 41-36, before Lock Haven scored five of the final seven points of the half to trim Bloomsburg's advantage to 43-41 at the break.

Mortellite had 14 points in the opening half while Lock Haven had ten points apiece from Ra'eese Hunt and the PSAC's leading scorer, Amir Hinton, in the first twenty minutes.

Bloomsburg came out firing in the second half as it built an eight-point lead, 55-47, after a pair of free throws from junior Carnell McGirt (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic (Valley Forge Military Academy)) with 15:54 left in regulation. But, the Bald Eagles went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to take a one-point lead, 56-55. Hinton had six of Lock Haven's nine points during the spurt.

Back came the Huskies. Sneed gave Bloomsburg the lead right back on a layup and then a pair of foul shots from Mortellite increased the lead to three, 59-56, with 12:48 left. The Huskies continued to pour it on as they outscored the Bald Eagles, 17-6, over the next seven minutes to take a 76-62 lead with 5:43 left and it seemed that victory was well in hand.

But, the Bald Eagles had other ideas. In the span of four minutes, Lock Haven turned a 14-point deficit into a one-point advantage, 79-78, after Khaleeq Campbell buried a deep three-pointer to give Lock Haven the lead with 1:38 left. On the Huskies' ensuing possession, Sneed missed a jumper but Mortellite was there for the tip-in to reclaim the lead for the Huskies, 80-79, with 1:09 left. The Bald Eagles missed a jumper at the other end and Greenlee hit 1-of-2 foul shots to extend the lead to two, 81-79, with 39 seconds left in regulation. Lock Haven had several chances to tie but Hinton could not hit on a pair of chances and Diggs came down with a defensive rebound with 10 seconds left and was promptly fouled. The senior hit 1-of-2 from the line to give Lock Haven one more chance to tie as it trailed, 82-79, with eight seconds left. But, instead of pulling up for a three, Hinton drove to the basket and was blocked by Sneed to end Lock Haven's comeback bid.

The Huskies shot 41.3% from the field and made only 5-of-18 from long distance with all five makes coming from Mortellite. But, the Huskies did plenty of damage at the line. Bloomsburg was 25-of-34 from the charity stripe while Lock Haven, which shot nearly 50% from the floor, made only 7-of-11 from the line which proved to be the difference in the game.

Joining Mortellite in double figures for the Huskies were McGirt and Sneed who each finished with 14 points. Sneed also blocked two shots, including the big one in the closing seconds, to move into a tie for ninth on the school's all-time list with 74. Mortellite finished with a team-high seven rebounds while Diggs finished with a team-best seven assists. Hinton led Lock Haven with 27 points and 11 rebounds.

The Huskies will host the Golden Rams of West Chester on Monday night to open the PSAC Tournament. Bloomsburg swept the season series, winning 88-73 at West Chester on December 30 and then 83-73 in Bloomsburg on February 1. Tip off from the Nelson Field House is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.