Men's Basketball | 2/26/2017 9:45:00 PM

#4 BLOOMSBURG (15-11, 11-11 PSAC East) vs #5 WEST CHESTER (13-14, 11-11 PSAC East)
PSAC First Round Contest
Monday, February 27, 2017 - 7:00 p.m.
Bloomsburg, Pa. | Nelson Field House

GAME NOTES:
Bloomsburg vs West Chester Game Notes

GAME COVERAGE:
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/bloomu/mbball/
Live Audio (WHLM): http://www.whlm.com
Live Video: https://bupmediasite.passhe.edu/Mediasite/Play/8c208e11aabd43749c6a0365eef6b3cb1d 

RELATED LINKS:
Bloomsburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics
West Chester - Roster | Schedule | Statistics

LAST TIME OUT ...
Bloomsburg built up a 14-point advantage with 5:43 left in regulation but had to hang on for an 82-79 win over visiting Lock Haven on Saturday afternoon. Redshirt junior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) scored a team-high 27 points and, in the process, broke the school record for most points in a single season (605). He hit five three-pointers and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line in the win. Mortellite also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Malik Sneed scored 14 points and blocked Amir Hinton's layup in the closing seconds to secure the Huskies' win. It was his second block of the game. Junior Carnell McGirt also added 14 points for the Huskies while senior Donell Diggs had a game-high seven assists. Hinton led Lock Haven with 27 points in the loss.

STARTING FIVE ...
1 - Redshirt junior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) continues his rapid ascent up Bloomsburg's all-time scoring list. The sharpshooter currently sits in sixth place on the school's all-time list with 1,476 career points. He scored 27 points on Saturday afternoon and now needs three points to tie Barry Francisco (1980-84) for fifth place, five points to tie Bill Connelly (1985-90) for fourth, and 28 points to tie Glenn Noack (1982-86) for third place. He has scored at least 20 points in 22 of the 26 games this season and has 42 career 20-point efforts in 78 collegiate games. He has hit double figures in 62 of his last 64 games and has been held to under 10 points in a game only nine times in his career.

2 - Not only is Mortellite climbing the school's all-time leaderboard for career points and career three-pointers, he has broken a number of school records. Here is a list of the records Mortellite has broken this season:
- Most points in a single-season (605), previous record was 600
- Most three-pointers in a season, men only (108), previous record was 82
- Most three-pointers in a season, men or women (108), previous record was 97
- Most three-point attempts in a season (247), previous record was 227
Mortellite is also within range of reaching a couple more records before season's end. Aaron Carter holds the program record for most free throws made in a season with 143 in 2001-02 - Mortellite has made 127 this season. He is also only 13 three-pointers away from surpassing Lorenzo Christmas' school record for career triples with 237. Mortellite is tied for second with Mike Ellzy (1993-97) at 225.

3 - Bloomsburg enters the postseason on Monday evening with a career record of 21-20 in the PSAC Tournament. The Huskies have won two PSAC Championships (1952-53 and 1980-81) in the program's history. Bloomsburg is 1-2 in the first round of the tournament with a loss at Mansfield (101-68) in 2013, a win over Kutztown (82-71) in 2014, and a loss at Shippensburg (80-78) last season. Against West Chester in the playoffs, the Huskies have won three of the five contests between the two schools. In the last postseason meeting, West Chester defeated Bloomsburg, 99-89, in West Chester on March 4, 2014 in the quarterfinal round.

4 - The Huskies are among the national leaders in several categories as a team while Mortellite's shooting touch has him among the country's leaders in a handful of individual categories. As a team, Bloomsburg ranks 13th in the country in free throw percentage (77.5%) and 11th in blocks per game (5.0) while ranking 32nd in the nation in three-point percentage (39.5%). Mortellite, meanwhile, leads the country in three-pointers per game (4.15). He is also fifth in the nation in total threes (108), ninth in points per game (23.3), 14th in free-throw percentage (90.7%), and 30th in three-point percentage (43.7%).

5 - Bloomsburg had three players post a double-double in the win at Wilmington - Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) (28 pts, 11 reb), Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School) (17 pts, 12 reb), and Carnell McGirt (12 pts, 11 reb). It marked the first time multiple Huskies' players had a double-double since February 10, 2016 against Kutztown - Mortellite (25 pts, 13 reb) and Malik Garner (20 pts, 10 reb). The Huskies had not had three players post a double-double in the same game since prior to the 1990-1991 season.

THE SERIES ...
The all-time series between Bloomsburg and West Chester is tied at 66-66. The Huskies won both meetings between the two schools this season.

THIS SEASON AGAINST WEST CHESTER ...
February 1, 2017 - at Bloomsburg (Bloomsburg 83, West Chester 73)
Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) scored a game-high 30 points to lift Bloomsburg to its third consecutive victory - 83-73 over visiting West Chester at the Nelson Field House. Mortellite's fifth three-pointer of the game, with 7:44 left in regulation, gave him 83 three-pointers on the season to break the program's single-season school record. Yahmir Greenlee added 23 points and four assists while Carnell McGirt (12) and Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School) (10) were also in double figures. The Huskies scored 49 points in the second half and built up a 22-point lead midway through the final half before hanging on down the stretch.
December 30, 2016 - at West Chester (Bloomsburg 88, West Chester 73)
Bloomsburg posted its first conference win of the season - an 88-73 victory at West Chester. The game was close throughout much of the first half as the opening 14 minutes saw five ties and eight lead changes. However, Carnell McGirt hit a jumper to snap a 23-23 tie with 6:38 left in the first half and the Huskies never trailed from that point on. The basket started a 20-7 run which allowed Bloomsburg to build up a 43-30 lead at halftime. Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) posted his second double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. McGirt finished with 18 points while Yahmir Greenlee became the story of the night. In his first game back, Greenlee posted then career-highs in points (15), assists (9), and steals (4). Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School) (10) was also in double figures.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN RAMS ...
West Chester enters as the fifth seed in the PSAC Eastern Division as it concluded the regular season with a 13-14 overall record and an 11-11 mark in league play. The Huskies won the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping the Golden Rams during the season. In their last game, the Golden Rams suffered a 91-85 loss to sixth-ranked Kutztown on Saturday afternoon. West Chester ended the season with four wins in its last six games and ranks fourth in the PSAC in scoring offense (83.1). However, the Golden Rams have had trouble at the other end of the floor as they rank 17th in scoring defense (83.4). Malik Jackson leads the team in scoring at 19.7 points per game. However, he shoots only 38.5% from the field and just 31.8% from long range despite hitting a team-high 62 triples. Tyrell Long has appeared in 16 games and averages a double-double (18.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg). Jackson Hyland had a monster effort against Kutztown on Saturday (34 pts, 14 reb) and averages 13.2 points per game. Zach Bare (11.9) and Matt Penecale (10.3) also average double figures in scoring. Penecale is the team's leader in assists at 5.3 per game - seventh in the PSAC.

BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS ...
Despite Saturday's loss at East Stroudsburg, Bloomsburg clinched a spot in the PSAC Tournament for the second straight year, and the fifth time in the last six seasons. Bloomsburg is 21-20 lifetime in the PSAC Tournament and will be looking to get out of the first round for the first time since 2014. The Huskies are just 9-14 in the postseason since the 1991 season.

SINGLE-SEASON SCORING RECORD ...
Redshirt junior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) scored 27 points in Saturday's 82- 79 win over Lock Haven and broke the school record for most points in a single season in the process. His 27 points gave him 605 points for the year, surpassing Mike Ellzy's previous record of 600 during the 1996-97 campaign.

NIGHT FOR THE AGES ...
Mortellite scored a career-high 39 points and hit a career-high nine three-pointers in the Huskies' 81-77 win at Mansfield on February 15. He finished one three-pointer shy of the single-game record of 10 set by Jay DeShields during the 1999-2000 season. His 39 points marked the most by a Bloomsburg player since Al Williams scored 40 against Mansfield on February 25, 1978. He had 15 points at halftime and then scored 24 of Bloomsburg's 40 second-half points in the win.

THREE RECORDS DOWN ...
Mortellite hit five threes in the win over West Chester on February 1 to give him the program's single-season school-record, on the men's side, for three-pointers with 83. Jay DeShields held the previous record of 82 during the 2001-02 season. With his nine triples on Wednesday, that gave him 98 for the season, which surpassed Dana Wieller's school-record (men or women) of 97 she had during the 2011-12 season. Last Wednesday, he broke the men's single-season record for three-point attempts, at that point, with 233 (Mike Ellzy held the previous record with 227).

HEATING UP ...
Junior Carnell McGirt has provided the Huskies with an offensive spark. In his first eight games, McGirt averaged 8.8 points and 6.5 rebounds but, since then, he is averaging 14.6 points and 7.3 rebounds. He has hit double figures in 17 of his last 18 games including a career-high 26 points in the loss at Shippensburg on January 6. Meanwhile, senior Malik Sneed has hit double figures in scoring in four of his last eight games after reaching double digits twice in the first 18 games of the year. He is averaging 9.4 points during the stretch.

HE'S RISING ...
On Saturday, December 3, Mortellite became the latest member of Bloomsburg University's 1,000-point club during the Huskies' 74-68 loss at Mercyhurst. He now has 1,476 points in his Huskies' career - sixth on the school's all-time list. Mortellite is also climbing the school's all-time list for career three-pointers. Mortellite now has 225 three-pointers for his career - tied for second on the all-time list. He is 13 behind Lorenzo Christmas (2010-14) for school record.

NOT FOUL AT THE LINE ...
Bloomsburg has been impressive from the charity stripe this season as it ranks third in the PSAC, and 13th in the country, in free-throw percentage (77.5%). Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) (90.7%) and senior Donell Diggs (84.8%) are second and third in the league, respectively, in accuracy. Mortellite is also 14th in the country, as he has missed only 13 foul shots in 140 attempts this season. Junior Carnell McGirt (80.0%) is 12th in the PSAC. Bloomsburg is +125 from the free-throw line this season.

DOWNTOWN WITH THE HUSKIES ...
The Huskies have made at least one three-pointer in 180 consecutive games. The last time Bloomsburg did not make a three in a game was on December 4, 2010 in a 54-51 loss at Lock Haven when it went 0-7 from beyond the arc. Bloomsburg has made at least ten three-pointers in a game eight times this season after achieving that feat just one time last season - an 85-59 home victory against Millersville on February 17, 2016 (10-of-17). Mortellite, meanwhile, leads the country in threes-per-game (4.15) and is fifth in the country in total three-pointers (108).

UP NEXT ...
The winner of the Bloomsburg-West Chester contest will head to the top seed in the east, sixth-ranked Kutztown, on Wednesday night for a quarterfinal matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.