Men's Basketball | 11/16/2018 9:54:00 PM

THE DETAILS
Bloomsburg (0-0, 0-0 PSAC East) vs Georgian Court (0-3, 0-0 CACC)
Saturday, November 17, 2018 - 1:00 p.m.
Nelson Field House - Bloomsburg, Pa.

GAME COVERAGE
Live Stats - CLICK HERE
Live Video - CLICK HERE
Live Audio - CLICK HERE

RELATED LINKS
Bloomsburg - Schedule | Roster | Statistics (2017-18)
Georgian Court - Schedule | Roster | Statistics

STORYLINE
The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team opens the 2018-19 season with a home contest against Georgian Court at the Nelson Field House. The Huskies went 15-12 last season and made the PSAC tournament for the third straight season and sixth time in seven years. The Lions, meanwhile, have three games under their belts and come in with an 0-3 record.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Bloomsburg and Georgian Court met on the hardwood for the first time last season with the Huskies pulling out a 70-59 win in Lakewood, New Jersey. Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) paced the Huskies with 25 points while Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School) and Austin Harriott (Philadelphia, Pa./Hun School) each had 14. Mortellite also pulled down 10 rebounds in the victory as the Huskies out-rebounded the Lions, 49-32. Caleb Bowser led the Lions with 19 points and eight rebounds.
 
SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG
Bloomsburg was picked to finish sixth in the PSAC Eastern Division according to the preseason coaches poll released late last month. The Huskies concluded the 2017-18 season with a 15-12 overall record and an 11-11 mark in the PSAC standings which gave them the fifth seed in the PSAC tournament. Bloomsburg, however, saw it season come to an end after a 93-79 loss at Kutztown in the opening round of the postseason. It was the Huskies' third consecutive trip to the postseason, and sixth in the last seven years, under the direction of head coach John Sanow who enters his 13th season at the helm. His 148 victories are second in program history, trailing only Charlie Chronister's PSAC-record 559 wins. Bloomsburg has two starters returning in junior Ky Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) and redshirt junior Sam Saxton (York, Pa./Central York). In his first season with the Huskies a year ago, Mauras was second on the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game while leading the team in both assists (116) and steals (48). He was also second on the team with 38 three-pointers and is expected to help shoulder the load offensively in 2018-19. Saxton, meanwhile, averaged 5.8 points and was tied for third on the team with 19 three-pointers. The Huskies certainly lost plenty of firepower from last year's team as Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton), Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School), and Hashim Moore (Sunrise, Fla./Hun School) all departed due to graduation. The notable omission is Mortellite who leaves as the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,037 career points and the programs' all-time leader in three-pointers with 314. Mortellite averaged 20.5 points per game last season after scoring at a 21.7 points-per-game clip during the 2016-17 campaign. Rose had his best season last year as he averaged 13.0 points and 6.1 rebounds while posting 66 blocked shots. He left with 135 career blocks - second on the school's all-time list. Moore averaged 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 56% from the field in his only season with the Huskies last year. The trio combined to score 43.9 of the team's 81.5 points per game last season. In addition to Mauras and Saxton, expected to help carry the load on the offensive end will be junior Austin Harriott (Philadelphia, Pa./Hun School) and sophomore Ethan Houston (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) who both showed flashes of offensive ability in their first season with the Huskies a year ago. Harriott averaged 6.9 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 54.7% from the field last season. He also posted 42 assists and 21 blocks in a solid, all-around first year. Houston averaged 4.6 points and 2.6 rebounds while tying Saxton for third on the team with 19 three-pointers last season. Also back from last year's team who saw minutes are redshirt senior Darius Robinson-Wallace (Philadelphia, Pa./Delaware Valley Charter), redshirt sophomore Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton), and sophomores Nicholas King (Easton, Pa./Freedom) and Myles Bunyon (Collegeville, Pa./Valley Forge Military Academy). The Huskies also brought in five freshmen to help provide depth - Sekou Fofana (Upper Darby, Pa./Springfield Commonwealth), William Melson (Allentown, Pa./Dieruff), Devon Ferrero (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll), Michael Davie (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester), and Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West).

SCOUTING GEORGIAN COURT
Georgian Court is 0-3 to start the 2018-19 season after going 5-22 a year ago. The Lions opened last weekend with a pair of double-digit losses against Le Moyne and Saint Rose before dropping a 78-51 decision at Millersville on Wednesday evening. Caleb Bowser is the focal point on offense. After missing the season opener, Bowser scored 28 against Saint Rose and 13 at Millersville to lead the team in scoring at 20.5 points per game. Will Osborn (10.3 ppg) and Bryce Council (9.7 ppg) are also off to solid starts offensively for the Lions. Matt Ringel nearly averages a double-double as he scores 9.0 points per game while pulling down 10.3 rebounds per contest. He has also blocked six shots this season. The Lions have struggled with their shooting early. They have made only 39.1% from the field, 24.2% from long distance, and 60.0% from the foul line through three games en route to an average of 60.3 points per game on the season.

UP NEXT
Bloomsburg will play its first road contest of the season on Tuesday, November 20, when it heads to Holy Family University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Stay up to date with the Huskies all season long by following us on our official social media accounts: Twitter (@GoBUHuskies), Facebook (BUHuskies), and Instagram (BUHuskies).