BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 75-74 loss to Kutztown University, Wednesday evening. In the final second, Jalen Bryant hit a pair of free throws to secure the win. The Huskies fell to 3-9 for the year and 2-6 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action, while the Golden Bears improved to 6-9 and 3-6.
 
With eight seconds to play in regulation, Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) drained a contested three in front of the bleachers to cut the Kutztown lead to one, 73-72. On the inbound pass, the Huskies' defense put pressure on Kutztown and forced a quick turnover under their basket to get the ball back with seven seconds to play. Anderson's heroics were on full display as he got an open jumper and gave Bloomsburg a 74-73 lead with just seconds on the clock. The heroics were overshadowed by a tough foul call with 0.1 seconds left on the clock on the other end of the court to send Bryant to the free-throw line. Bryant came into the game as an 84.6% free throw shooter and improved his average by hitting both shots to give Kutztown a 75-74 lead. Anderson attempted a three-quarter court shot just a hair too late, though the shot banged off the back rim and nearly went in. The Golden Bears walked away with a 75-74 win.
 
The two teams were embattled in a tightly fought contest the entire game as neither team held a double-digit lead at any point. With just 3:11 to play, Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) made a quick jumper after Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) grabbed a defensive board and dished the ball out to Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard), who fed it to Elmore. Elmore's jumper tied the game at 64-64. Channick Nkoma made a layup on the other side of the court to pull ahead, 66-64, and the Golden Bears eventually took a five-point lead, 71-66, with 53 seconds to play. Anderson did all he could do to will his team to victory as he hit back-to-back threes in the final minute.
 
The Huskies out-scored the Golden Bears 29-28 in the opening half as the lead changed hands just three times, and the score was tied once in the opening 20 minutes. In the final 20 minutes, the lead went back-and-forth 11 times with 14 ties. Bloomsburg's largest lead of the first half was seven, 9-2, with 17:00 minutes to play, while Kutztown's largest lead was five – the Golden Bears' 71-66 lead with 53 seconds to play.
 
Anderson finished the game with 29 points, a season-high and just one point off of his career-high, while Elmore finished the day with 12 points and five rebounds. Nelson chipped in nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds while Rodriguez dished out a game-best eight assists with three points and one rebound.
 
As a team, the Huskies shot 51.7% (31-for-60) from the floor and were 5-of-13 from the three-point range. The Huskies were 7-of-14 from the free-throw line.
 
Kutztown finished the game with a 49.2% (30-for-61) day from the floor and was just 1-of-9 from long range. The Golden Bears were just 14-of-21 (66.7%) from the free-throw line.
 
Kyree Generett led the way for Kutztown with 19 points, while Nkoma had 15 and eight rebounds. Bryant added 12 points, eight of which came from the charity stripe, and Evan-Eric Longino posted 10 points for KU.
 
Bloomsburg looks to bounce back as the Huskies host West Chester on Saturday for a 3:00 pm PSAC tilt inside Nelson Field House.