ERIE, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team ended its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West crossover road trip with an 81-53 loss to Gannon University, Sunday afternoon.
 
With the loss, the Huskies fell to 2-7 for the year and 1-4 in PSAC play while the Golden Knights improved to 7-2 for the season and 4-1 in conference action.
 
Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard) led the Huskies with 16 points, four assists, and six rebounds while Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine boards. As a team, the Huskies shot 18-for-67 (26.9%) for the game and were 13-for-21 (61.9%) from the free throw line. Bloomsburg finished 4-for-26 from beyond the three-point arc.

The Huskies out-rebounded the Golden Knights 41-40.
 
Gannon was led by Ike Herster with 16 points and the Golden Knights had five players reach double figures. Ali Ragab finished the day with 15 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double.
 
The Golden Knights shot 55.0% (33-for-60) for the game and were 7-for-22 (31.8%) from beyond the arc. Gannon finished 8-for-12 from the free throw line.
 
Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) scored the first basket of the game thanks to an assist from Rodriguez at the 19:10 mark but Herster answered with a three on the other side of the court and the Golden Knights controlled the contest from that point forward. Gannon took a 35-15 lead into halftime.
 
Bloomsburg used a 14-11 run to open the second half to cut the lead to 14, 46-29, but that would be as close as the Huskies could get. With 9:50 to play, the Golden Knights went on a 13-3 run to push their lead to 27, 64-37, with 6:48 to play. Gannon maintained control for the rest of the contest though William Melson (Allentown, Pa./Dieruff) ended the scoring with a pair of free throws in the final 33 seconds as Gannon won 81-53.
 
Bloomsburg will have a break for the holiday season and return to action on Wednesday, January 5 when the Huskies travel to Lock Haven University for a 7:30 pm game.