Men's Basketball | 12/7/2018 1:25:00 PM

THE DETAILS
Bloomsburg (3-3, 1-1 PSAC East) at Mercyhurst (5-1, 1-1 PSAC West)
Saturday, December 8, 2018 - 3:00 p.m.
Mercyhurst Athletic Center - Erie, Pa.

GAME COVERAGE
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RELATED LINKS
Bloomsburg - Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Mercyhurst - Schedule | Roster | Statistics

STORYLINE
The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team will be looking for its road victory of the season on Saturday when it heads to Erie to battle the Lakers of Mercyhurst University. The Huskies are 3-3 overall but 0-2 away from the Nelson Field House. Meanwhile, the Lakers are 5-1 to start the season and are a perfect 4-0 at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
The two teams have met 11 times in the all-time series with Mercyhurst earning victories in 10 of those 11 contests. In the last meeting between the two schools, the Lakers defeated the Huskies, 74-68, in Erie on December 3, 2016. The Huskies had a six-point advantage at halftime only to get outscored by a 37-25 margin in the second half as Mercyhurst escaped with the win. Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) led Bloomsburg with 22 points while Mercyhurst had four players in double digits led by Durrell McDonald's 19 points.
 
SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG
Bloomsburg split its conference-opening weekend by earning a hard-fought 66-62 win over Gannon last Saturday before falling in overtime, 97-94, to Edinboro on Sunday after erasing a 22-point deficit. Freshman sensation Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) reached double figures in both games over the weekend and has started his collegiate career with six consecutive games in double digits. He earned PSAC East Freshman of the Week honors after helping the Huskies to a 2-2 week in four games last week. He averaged 16.0 points and 8.8 rebounds, including the first two double-doubles of his collegiate career, while chipping in six assists, eight blocks, and five steals in the four games. He scored 11 points at Division I Saint Francis to start the week then earned his first career double-double against Felician as he scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds in a 77-72 win over the Golden Falcons. Elmore scored 16 points to go along with eight rebounds, three steals (career-high), and four blocks (career-high) in a 66-62 win over Gannon on Saturday before closing the week with a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds in the loss against Edinboro. In his first collegiate season, Elmore is averaging 14.5 points - second on the team - and a team-high 7.5 rebounds. He ranks in the top 20 in the PSAC in both points and rebounds and is fourth in the league by averaging 1.5 blocks per game. Junior Ky Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) is third in the league in scoring at 22.6 points per game and has scored at least 20 points in four of his five games played. Mauras also averages 4.8 rebounds and leads the team with 21 assists including a season-high seven against the Fighting Scots on Sunday. Redshirt junior Sam Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) is also in double figures by averaging 12.2 points per game while also pulling down 5.8 boards per contest. He leads the team with eight triples and is coming off of a career-high 24 points against Edinboro. Sophomore Nicholas King (Easton, Pa./Freedom) is averaging 8.3 points in his first season as a starter while junior Austin Harriott (Philadelphia, Pa./Hun School) chips in 7.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest. The Huskies are 11th in the PSAC in scoring offense (74.5) but are 16th in the league in scoring defense (84.2). Bloomsburg will also be looking to improve on its free-throw shooting and its turnovers as it ranks last in the league in both categories. The Huskies are shooting just 57.5% from the line this season (100-of-174) and are -3.00 in turnover margin and have turned the ball over 17 times per game.

SCOUTING MERCYHURST
Mercyhurst is seventh in the Atlantic Region according to the latest D2SIDA poll released earlier this week. The Lakers are coming off of a split during their conference-opening weekend as Mercyhurst suffered its first loss of the season at East Stroudsburg (78-61) last Saturday before bouncing back for an 80-62 victory on Sunday at Lock Haven. Mercyhurst is tenth in the PSAC in scoring offense (76.8 ppg) but does its best work on the defensive end. The Lakers lead the PSAC and are fourth in the country as they allow just 58.2 points per game. Their +18.6 scoring margin is ninth in the nation. The Lakers lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage (44.1%) which has them seventh in the country. Mercyhurst is also 22nd in the country in opponents' field goal percentage (39.4%) and 24th in steals per game (9.5). Individually, Mercyhurst has nine players averaging at least five points per game and is led by Jason Massey who is at 13.8 points per game. Massey is fourth in the conference in field goal percentage (58.2%). Trystan Pratapas is second at 10.5 points per game and is 18-of-30 (60.0%) from beyond the arc. Against Roberts Wesleyan on November 17, Pratapas broke the single-game school record with 10 three-pointers and finished with 30 points in just 22 minutes. Patrick Smith averages 9.7 points per game and leads the team at 7.8 rebounds. Derrick Ellis leads the Lakers with 26 assists and 14 steals.

UP NEXT
The Huskies will be off until Tuesday, December 18, and Wednesday, December 19, when they head west again for conference contests against California and Slippery Rock, respectively. Tip-off against the Vulcans on Tuesday is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. while start time is slated for 7:30 p.m. against The Rock on Wednesday.

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