BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to Gannon, 89-84, Saturday afternoon. The Huskies trimmed the lead to just one with 37 seconds left but the Golden Knights hung on for the win to improve to 4-5 and 3-2 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action while the Huskies slipped to 5-6 for the year and 2-3 in conference action.
With 37 seconds to play in regulation, senior Ky Maraus hit a pair of free throws to get the Huskies to within one, 83-82. Matt Johnson missed a pair of free throws at the other end of the court six seconds later but Bloomsburg couldn't corral the rebound on the second shot and Kevin Dodds grabbed the offensive board and put it back up for a layup and the two-point advantage with 27 seconds left. The Huskies had the ball in the corner with 20 seconds left but
Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) couldn't get his three to fall in front of his bench and the Golden Knights made two of four throws at the other end to take an 87-82 lead with 10 seconds left.
Redshirt senior
Sam Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) drove to the basket with five seconds left to finish a layup and cut the lead back to three. The Huskies couldn't force a turnover and Victor Olawoye sealed the 89-84 win with a pair of free throws with three seconds left for Gannon.
Bloomsburg out-scored the Golden Knights 51-45 in the second half, but the 11-point deficit after the break proved to be too much for the Huskies. Bloomsburg shot 53.6% in the second half and 45.6% for the game from the field and were 24-for-30 from the free throw line, including 12-for-22 in the second half.
Gannon led by as many as 16 points three times in the second, including a 61-45 lead with 10:57 to play. Bloomsburg trimmed the lead down to four, 67-63, with 6:12 remaining thanks to a 18-6 run sparked by a three from Mortellite and punctuated by a driving layup from junior
Maqi Watson (Philadelphia, Pa./Mathematics, Civics, and Sciences Charter) at 5:59. The Golden Knights pushed the lead back to double-digits, 75-65, with 4:22 to play but the Huskies hung around and worked their way back in cut the deficit back to one, 81-80, with 49 seconds left. The Huskies comeback effort fell just short, however, as the Golden Knights hit four free throws in the final minute of action.
The first half was much like the end of the second as the two teams kept each other close and traded the lead seven times before Gannon took the lead for good, 33-31 with 4:47 to play in the first thanks to a three from Chris Clancy. The Golden Knights went on an 11-0 run to extend their lead to 44-31 with 1:07 to play. Saxton hit a pair of free throws to cut the score back down to 11, 44-33, with 50 seconds left in the half. Bloomsburg couldn't get a final shot off in the half and the score held 44-33 at the break.
Saxton led the Huskies with 23 points as he went 7-for-10 from the field and 8-for-9 from the free throw line. Freshman
Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) chipped in 13 points while Mortellite added 12 and redshirt junior
Max Wagner (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) added 11. Junior
Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) and Wagner each pulled down five rebounds for the Huskies while Maraus dished out a game-best six assists.
Gannon won the rebounding battle 39-24.
Bloomsburg is off until January when the Huskies travel to Mansfield for a 7:30 p.m. PSAC contest on January 3.
