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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - Trailing by 21 points with just under nine minutes left in regulation, the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team put together an epic comeback bid only to see it fall two points short as the visiting Marauders of Millersville University hung on for a 73-71 victory over the Huskies on Wednesday night at the Nelson Field House. Bloomsburg dropped its second straight to fall to 5-9 overall and 2-7 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division standings while Millersville improved to 9-7 overall and 5-4 in the PSAC East. It marked the Marauders' first win over the Huskies in Bloomsburg since 2008.

A 13-0 run by the Marauders put the visitors ahead 64-43 with 8:52 remaining before the Huskies frantically began to chip away at the deficit. Freshman Sekou Fofana (Upper Darby, Pa./Springfield Commonwealth) started with a pair of foul shots which was followed by a layup from junior Ky Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) for a quick four-point spurt as Bloomsburg trailed by 17 with 8:27 left. Millersville's Justin Nwosu went 1-of-2 at the foul line on the team's next possession before Bloomsburg rattling for eight straight points to cut the lead to 65-55 with 6:07 left. Redshirt sophomore Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) provided a spark off the bench as he knocked down a triple and converted a layup to start the run. Mauras capped off the spurt with a three-pointer of his own before Millersville's Marcus Adkison stopped the bleeding with a pair of foul shots to extend the visitors' lead to 67-55 with 5:30 left.

Mauras scored five quick points to cut the deficit to 67-62 with 3:59 left before Millersville's Caden Najdawi answered with a dunk at the other end to push the margin back to seven. Back-to-back layups from freshman Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) brought the Huskies to within three, 69-66, with 2:41 left before a pair of Millersville foul shots got the lead back to five with 66 seconds left. Mauras quickly ran down the floor and knocked down a layup to trim the lead to three and, after a pair of free-throw misses by Adkison, junior Austin Harriott (Philadelphia, Pa./Hun School) buried a three-pointer to tie the contest at 71-71 with 36 seconds remaining. Jaden Faulkner, who had a huge night for the Marauders, broke the tie as he sank a layup with ten seconds remaining. The Huskies called a timeout, but Jamal Washington stole Bloomsburg's in-bounds pass and was able to run out the clock.

Mauras led the Huskies with 24 points - 16 of which came in the second half - before fouling out with 48 seconds left in the contest. He added five rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals. Harriott added 13 points and nine rebounds while Elmore saw his streak of consecutive games reaching double figures to start his collegiate career come to an end as he finished with nine points and a team-high ten boards. Elmore was limited to 25 minutes as he spent much of the first half on the bench with a pair of early fouls. Fofana added nine points and five rebounds in a career-high 26 minutes off the bench. Mortellite and redshirt senior Darius Robinson-Wallace (Philadelphia, Pa./Delaware Valley Charter) added five points apiece.

Bloomsburg shot 26-of-60 (43.3%) from the field and was 6-of-15 (40.0%) from beyond the arc. However, foul shooting continued to plague the Huskies as they went only 13-of-23 (56.5%) from the stripe, including 6-of-14 (42.9%) in the second half. Millersville went 29-of-64 (45.3%) from the floor, 4-of-19 (21.1%) from deep, and 11-of-17 (64.3%) from the line. The Huskies held a 45-34 edge on the glass.

Faulkner led Millersville with 24 points and was nearly perfect as he made his first ten shots of the night before missing late to finish 11-of-13 from the field. He added six assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Najdawi added 12 points and 12 rebounds while Washington had ten points and the big steal at the end to seal the victory for the visitors.

Bloomsburg will return to the Nelson Field House on Saturday, January 19, when it hosts East Stroudsburg University in a PSAC Eastern Division contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

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