INDIANA, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team fell to #8 IUP, 88-73, Saturday afternoon, in the first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup for both teams. The Huskies fell to 2-3 on the year and 0-1 in the PSAC while the Crimson Hawks improved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Freshman
Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) led the Huskies with 14 points as he shot 6-for-11 for the day an pulled down six rebounds. Sophomore
Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) posted 14 points and six rebounds for the Huskies as well. Senior
Ky Mauras (Reading, Pa./Reading) dished out a team-best six assists to go with his 12 points for the day.
Elmore scored the first points of the day for the Huskies as he finished a layup thanks to an assist from
Max Wagner (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) but the Crimson Hawks responded with a triple to take the lead, 3-2. The teams then traded buckets as IUP maintained its one-point lead before Wagner put the Huskies back up by two, 7-5, with 18:22 to play it the first. A Crimson Hawk dunk at 17:34 tied it at 7-7 and Wagner gave Bloomsburg its last lead of the game at 17:03, 9-7. IUP answered with eight-straight points to push its lead to 15-9. The Huskies cut the lead down to three twice, but the IUP used a 12-3 run over the next three minutes to lead 29-17 with 11:31 to play in the opening frame.
Six unanswered points from the Huskies pulled the visitors back to within six, 29-23, with 9:12 to go before the break, but the Hawks took command of the game and used a 25-6 run over that last nine minutes of action to lead 54-29 at the break.
Wagner kicked off a 10-0 run for the Huskies to open the second half and got Bloomsburg back to within 15, 54-39, with 17:16 to play in the second. A pair of IUP free throws halted that run and kicked off a 6-0 run for the Hawks to retake the lead, 60-39. Bloomsburg picked up four straight points to pull within 17, but IUP kept the Huskies off balance and did not allow more than a four-point run for the rest of the contest.
Trailing 87-67 with 1:49 to play,
Maqi Watson (Philadelphia, Pa./Mathematics, Civics, and Sciences Charter) hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit down to 18, 87-68. After a Crimson Hawk free throw pushed the lead back to 18,
Devon Ferrero (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) drained a long three to cut the lead to 16, 88-72, with 49 seconds to play. Watson was able to get a steal on the next IUP possession and the Huskies called a quick timeout.
Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard) drew a foul but missed the first of two shots. Rodriguez hit the back end which proved to be the final points for either team as IUP took the PSAC contest, 88-72.
The Huskies shot 45.2% (28-for-62) as a team from the field and went 4-for-14 from beyond the arc. Bloomsburg was perfect from the foul line, 5-for-5 in the first half, though finished the day 13-for-20 from the stripe. The Hawks won the rebounding battle by a slim 37-35 margin. IUP was 34-for-65 from the field (52.3%) and was 10-for-26 from beyond the arc.
Bloomsburg has a quick turnaround as the Huskies head to Seton Hill on Sunday for a 3:00 p.m. PSAC contest in Greensburg, Pa. The Griffins enter the match 1-2 on the year and 0-1 in the PSAC after falling to Mansfield, 87-73, Saturday afternoon.
