BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – With 7:16 to play in the second half, sophomore Louie Wild (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic) hit a three from the top of the three-point arc to give the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team a one-point lead, 56-55, and complete the comeback as the Huskies defeated Wilmington University (Del.) 76-68, Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Huskies improved to 1-3 while the Wildcats dropped to 2-5 for the season.
 
Just under a minute before his first three of the game, Wild drew a foul and drained both of his free throws to tie the game at 53-53. With 7:50 to play, Danny Walsh answered the free throws with a shot in the paint to push the Wildcats' lead back to two, 55-53. After a media time-out, junior Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) drew a foul and gave the Huskies a chance to set up an offensive play. The ball went into the hands of Wild, who was set up at the top of the key from junior Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard). Wild drained his shot and gave Bloomsburg a 56-55 lead, one they would not surrender.
 
Nelson grabbed a defensive board after a series of missed shots on the other end of the court, and junior Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) drove to the basket for a jumper with 5:47 to play to push the Bloomsburg lead to three, 58-55. After another pair of free throws from Wild extended the lead to five, 60-55, Ricky Rickards halted the Huskies run with Wilmington's first points in three and a half minutes to cut the lead to three, 60 57, with 4:51 to go.
 
The Huskies used a 10-3 run over the next three minutes to take their largest lead of the game, 70-60, with 1:39 to play. Rickards hit another pair of free throws for Wilmington before Wild was fouled at the other end of the court with 1:19 to play to preserve the clock. Wild hit both free throws to push the Huskies' lead back to 10, 72-62. The Huskies made all six free throws in the game's final minutes to seal the win despite eight points in 1:11 for the Wildcats.
 
The two teams battled back and forth in the first half, but Wilmington came away with a slim 31-29 lead at the break. The Wildcats came out of the intermission and went on a 6-2 run to open the second half to take their largest lead of the game, 37-31, with 17:26 to play. Anderson and Kam Cooper traded layups on the next two possessions as Wilmington maintained its six-point lead with 16:23 to play. Nelson grabbed an offensive board and put it back up for the quick layup, and cut the Wildcats' lead to four, 39-35. Bloomsburg used this momentum to continue to chip away at the lead until Wild's three to complete the comeback for the Huskies.
 
Bloomsburg shot 43.4% (23-for-53) from the floor for the game but was 13-for-26 (50%) in the second. The Huskies were 5-for-13 from beyond the arc for the game and 25-for-36 from the free-throw line. In the second half, Bloomsburg was 18-for-24 from the charity stripe and 3-for-7 from long range.
 
Anderson led all players with 21 points while Wild chipped in 14, all coming in the second half. Nelson finished the game with his third double-double as he chipped in 11 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Nelson has hit double figures in rebounds in all four games this season. Rodriguez finished the game with 12 points and dished out three assists while adding a pair of steals.
The Wildcats were 28-for-60 (46.7%) from the floor and just 2-for-16 from three-point range for the game, including a 0-for-8 second half. Wilmington finished 10-for-13 from the free-throw line for the contest.
 
The Huskies return to action on Friday as they open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play against the California University of Pennsylvania. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm inside Nelson Field House.