BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action on Friday night against a strong California (PA) University team. The Huskies dropped a tough battle to the Vulcans, 88-75, inside Nelson Field House. With the loss, the Huskies fell to 1-4 for the year and 0-1 in conference action, while the Vulcans improved to 5-1 for the year and 1-0 in PSAC play.
 
Junior Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) led the Huskies with 21 points and has scored at least 20 points in four of his five games this season. Anderson has hit double figures in every game this year and averages 21.6 points per game. Junior Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) chipped in 17 points, while freshman Matt Bengel (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) finished with 11 points off the bench for the Huskies. Freshman Ash Kemble (Myerstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon County) led the Huskies with 21 rebounds for the game.
 
As a team, Bloomsburg shot 44.1% (30-for-68) for the game while the Huskies out-scored the Vulcans 44-43 in the second half and shot 51.52% (17-for-33) in the final 20 minutes.
 
The Vulcans shot 48.6% (35-for-72) for the game and were 6-for-17 from beyond the three-point arc. Cal U out-rebounded the Huskies 46-41 game and posted 20-second chance points. Cal capitalized off of the Huskies' 13 turnovers with 22 points.
 
The two teams traded threes to open the game as junior Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard) drained a three at the 19:25 mark after Brent Pegram hit a three just 10 seconds into play. Philip Alston put the Vulcans up by three at the 18:42 mark before Nelson cut the lead to one, 6-5, with a layup after grabbing the rebound off a blocked shot. A jumper from Zyan Collins extended the Vulcan's lead back to three, 8-5, with 18:01 to play in the first, but a jumper by Elmore cut the lead back to one. Alston hit the back end of a trip to the free-throw line to extend the Cal U lead to two, 9-7. Anderson finished an extended possession by the Huskies with a layup with 16:04 to play to tie the game at 9-9.
 
Pegram picked up a steal with 15:27 to play and finished his Fastbreak with a layup in the paint to give the Vulcans the lead for good, 11-9, with 15:27 to play in the first. A 22-9 run for Cal U over the next 10 minutes pushed the Vulcans lead to 33-18, and Cal U kept a double-digit advantage for the rest of the half. The Vulcans took a 45-31 lead into the locker room at the break.
 
With 9:42 to play in the second, the Vulcans took their largest lead of the game, a 27-point advantage, 76-49. The Huskies didn't quit and eventually chipped away at the lead to get it to 19, 86-76, with 3:14 to play. After grabbing a defensive board, Rodriguez hit a jumper on the other end of the court to cut the advantage to 17, 86-69, with 2:44 to play. Bengel hit the front end of a trip to the free-throw line and then drained a three with 37 seconds to play to cut the lead to 15, 88-83. Sophomore Louie Wild (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic) hit the game's final shot with 11 seconds to play to finish out the game, 88-75, in favor of Cal U.
 
The Huskies get right back on the court on Saturday as they host Slippery Rock in the second of two PSAC crossover games for the weekend. Opening tip-off against The Rock is set for 7:30 pm at Nelson Field House.