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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - It has certainly been an historic week at the Nelson Field House for the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team.

Three days after redshirt senior Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) became the program's all-time leading scorer, sophomore Khary Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) recorded what is believed to be the first triple-double in program history as the Huskies earned a crucial 85-77 victory over visiting Lock Haven University on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, Bloomsburg improved to 12-9 overall and 8-9 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings while the Bald Eagles dropped to 7-13 overall and 5-11 in league play.

Mauras led the Huskies with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists for what proved to be the 19th triple-double in Division II this season and just the second registered by a PSAC player (Seton Hill's Spencer Casson had the first with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 blocks against Clarion on January 27). The sophomore point guard added three steals and committed just one turnover in 38 minutes of action. Mauras finished 5-of-12 from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, and 8-of-10 from the foul line for his sixth 20-point effort of the season - one point shy of his career-high of 22 points he scored at Seton Hill on January 17.

Already having reached double-digits in both points and assists earlier in the second half, Mauras pulled down his tenth rebound of the game after a missed three-pointer from Lock Haven's Amir Hinton with just 16 seconds left in the game. He promptly was fouled, knocked down a pair of foul shots, and then grabbed his 11th board of the afternoon after a missed triple from Tarojae Brake on the game's final possession.

Mauras had help from Mortellite who finished with his fifth double-double of the season as he posted 14 points and 11 rebounds. The redshirt senior is now just 66 points away from becoming the 12th player in conference history to record 2,000 career points. Freshman Ethan Houston (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) added a career-high 14 points and tied a career-best with seven rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. He was 4-of-7 from three-point range and scored 11 of his points in the first half. Senior Kyle-Michael Rose (Middletown, Del./Sanford School) was the fourth Huskies' player in double digits as he chipped in 13 points in only 18 minutes.

The teams battled through a dozen lead changes and seven ties in the opening twenty minutes and when the dust settled, both teams headed to their respective locker rooms tied at 37-37. Houston led Bloomsburg with 11 first-half points which had already surpassed his career-high of ten points he scored in the win over Cheyney back on January 6. Mortellite had nine points and six rebounds in the first half while Mauras had five points, four rebounds, and eight assists in the opening stanza.

After Rose gave the Huskies a two-point lead at the outset of the second half, the Bald Eagles rattled off the next four points to take a 41-39 advantage with 18:19 remaining. Bloomsburg stormed back with a 9-0 run to take a 48-41 lead with 15:46 left in regulation. Mortellite started the run with a three-pointer followed by a jumper from graduate student Hashim Moore (Sunrise, Fla./Hun School) and back-to-back layups from redshirt sophomore Sam Saxton (York, Pa./Central York). Following a Lock Haven timeout, the Bald Eagles scored five straight to cut the Bloomsburg lead to 48-46 with 14:47 left.

The Huskies got the lead back up to five, 53-48, on a jumper from Mortellite and a three-pointer from Houston before the Bald Eagles cut the lead to one, 53-52, on back-to-back baskets from Hinton with 12:51 left. Bloomsburg responded, this time with a 10-0 run, to build up its largest lead of the game, 63-52, with 10:57 remaining in regulation. The spurt was aided by back-to-back three-pointers from Mauras - sandwiched in between baskets from sophomore Austin Harriott (Philadelphia, Pa./Hun School).

Lock Haven made one more run to make things extremely interesting down the stretch. The Bald Eagles narrowed the gap to one, 75-74, with 3:05 left by scoring 22 of the game's next 34 points. But, a 1-of-2 trip at the foul line by Hinton eliminated a chance for the Bald Eagles to tie and that would be as close as the visitors would get. Bloomsburg iced the game at the charity stripe as the Huskies went 10-of-13 in the last three minutes with Mauras going 8-of-8 in that span.

Bloomsburg shot 31-of-69 (44.9%) from the field and made 11-of-22 from beyond the arc (50.0%). The Huskies struggled from the foul line as they went only 12-of-21 (57.1%) on the afternoon. However, Bloomsburg made its foul shots when it needed to as the hosts were 10-of-13 over the final three minutes after starting only 2-of-8. Lock Haven finished by shooting 26-of-63 (41.3%) from the field and 6-of-17 (35.3%) from long range. The Bald Eagles went 19-of-27 (70.4%) from the foul line.

Hinton led four Lock Haven players in double figures with 18 points.

The Huskies will look to stay hot when they travel to Cheyney University on Wednesday night, February 7. Start time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Bloomsburg defeated Cheyney, 110-59, at the Nelson Field House on January 6.

Note: Christian Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) was honored prior to the start of Saturday's contest for having broken the school's all-time scoring record. Joining Mortellite for the pre-game celebration were Mike Ellzy, who held the previous record of 1,911 points from 1993-97, and Jerry Radocha, who held the record before Ellzy broke his mark. Radocha finished his career with 1,778 career points from 1973-77.