Men's Basketball | 3/1/2019 12:57:00 PM

GAME COVERAGE
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GAME NOTES (PDF)

RELATED LINKS
• Bloomsburg: Schedule | Roster | Statistics
• Shippensburg: Schedule | Roster | Statistics

THE MATCHUP
• The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team will conclude the 2018-19 season on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Shippensburg University at the Nelson Field House. The Huskies will honor their lone senior, Darius Robinson-Wallace (Philadelphia, Pa./Delaware Valley Charter), prior to the opening tip.

THE SERIES
• Bloomsburg leads the all-time series against Shippensburg, 104-72. However, the Raiders have won seven straight, and eight of the last nine, against the Huskies. Bloomsburg will be looking to avenge a 93-60 loss at Shippensburg back on January 30. Freshman Sekou Fofana (Philadelphia, Pa./West Catholic) paced the Huskies with 23 points. The Raiders had five players in double figures led by Jake Biss who finished with 18. John Castello had 15 points and 19 rebounds in the victory.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) poured in a career-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to power Bloomsburg to an 89-81 overtime victory over visiting Mansfield on Wednesday night at the Nelson Field House. The Huskies outscored the Mounties 16-8 in the extra session to notch their second overtime victory of the season, and second win in their last four outings. Elmore was stellar late, tallying 19 points in the second half and overtime alone. He was 12-of-19 from the floor for the game and notched his team-best sixth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) was equally impressive, finishing with a career-high 21 points, five rebounds, and five made triples. Sam Saxton (York, Pa./Central York) added 14 points, four rebounds, and five assists, while Nicholas King (Easton, Pa./Freedom) finished with 11 points.

• Bloomsburg features a pair of talented freshmen this season in Elmore and Sekou Fofana (Philadelphia, Pa./West Catholic). Elmore averages 15.6 points per game (tied for 20th in the PSAC) and is third in the PSAC in field goal percentage (57.7%). He also leads the team (tied for 15th in the PSAC) in rebounding (7.3). Elmore has reached double figures in scoring in 22 of his 25 contests this season and has been named PSAC East Freshman of the Week three times on the year. He is making a late push for Freshman of the Year honors by averaging 22.3 points - on 39-of-56 (69.6%) from the field - and 7.5 rebounds in the last four games. Fofana, who missed Wednesday's game, has also been on a tear as of late, averaging 16.6 points and 7.0 rebounds over his last eight games. Fofana posts 11.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and has reached double figures in scoring in 14 of his last 18 contests.

• Saxton averages 9.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game which are both career highs and both ranked fourth on the team. Bloomsburg is also getting solid minutes from Mortellite who has started each of the last eight games. He is averaging 13.4 points in his eight starts and has been in double figures in six of those games which includes going 26-of-54 (48.1%) from deep during the stretch. The Huskies are also starting to give freshman Devon Ferrero (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll), in particular, a longer look. Ferrero earned his first career start on Wednesday and has played at least 10 minutes in five of the last six games. He is averaging 4.7 points and 3.3 rebounds during the stretch.

• The Huskies are 10th in the PSAC in scoring offense (74.3) but are last in scoring defense (86.1). Shooting and turnovers have been the achilles heel for Bloomsburg this season as it ranks 16th in turnover margin (-4.3), 11th in field goal percentage (43.8%), and last in both three-point percentage (30.9%) and in free throw percentage (63.4%). Bloomsburg's rebounding is 12th in the league (-0.4).

• Bloomsburg has made at least one three-pointer in 233 consecutive games. The last time Bloomsburg did not make a three in a game was on December 4, 2010 in a 54-51 loss at Lock Haven when it went 0-7 from beyond the arc. Since adding Mortellite into heavy rotation on January 26, the Huskies have fared much better, going 67-of-184 (36.4%) over the last nine games. The Huskies have hit at least seven threes in seven of those nine contests.

SCOUTING SHIPPENSBURG
• Shippensburg has already locked up a playoff spot and a home game in the PSAC tournament but can finish in a three-way tie atop the conference with a win on Saturday and an East Stroudsburg loss at Millersville. West Chester has already finished with a 16-4 conference record. The Raiders have won four straight, including a 91-86 victory over West Chester on Wednesday night. However, Shippensburg is just 6-5 away from home this season - it is 15-1 at home.

• The Raiders feature three players averaging double figures and three more averaging at least 6.8 points per game. Antonio Kellem leads at 16.9 points per contest while ranking second on the team in assists (87) and third in rebounding (4.9). Biss is posting 15.3 points and a team-high 121 assists - 4.5 per game (sixth in the PSAC). Castello posts 14.5 points and a team-high 8.9 rebounds - fourth-most in the conference. Lamar Talley (7.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg), Manny Span (7.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg) round out the starting five with Dom Sleva (6.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg) a focal point off the bench.  
 
• Shippensburg is seventh in the PSAC in scoring offense (79.6) and allows only 70.9 points per game to its opponents (sixth). The team is third in the PSAC with 248 made three-pointers this season, ranks fifth in free-throw percentage (71.0%), is second in rebounding margin (+6.8), and is eighth in the league in turnover margin (+1.56).

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