BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball out-scored West Chester in the second half but could not overtake the Golden Rams in a tough 98-91 loss, Saturday afternoon. The Huskies fell to 3-10 for the year and 2-7 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), while the Golden Rams improved to 9-5 and 4-5 in conference action.
 
Bloomsburg went into the locker room down 51-42 at halftime and quickly erased the nine-point deficit in the second half. Just Rodriguez wasted no time as he drained a three in the far corner thanks to a quick pass from Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) to cut the lead to 51-45 15 seconds into the action. The Huskies forced a contested shot at the other end of the court, and while the Golden Rams grabbed the rebound, Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) forced a turnover and got the ball into the hands of Rodriguez. This time it was his turn to assist Anderson's deep three to get the Huskies to within three, 51-48, at the 19:15 mark.
 
The two teams traded buckets, but the Huskies out-scored West Chester 12-9 over the next four minutes to tie the game at 60-60 with 15:28 to go in regulation. Bloomsburg eventually took its first lead since early in the first as Ash Kemble (Myerstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon County) hit a three at the 12:55 mark for the 65-64 Husky advantage. The Golden Rams grabbed the lead back on their next possession and extended it to 68-65 with 10:15 to play, but another three-pointer from Anderson tied the game once again with 10:05 to play.
 
The Golden Rams used a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to build a nine-point advantage, but Bloomsburg chipped away and went on a 10-0 run of its own to take the lead, 78-77, with 6:01 to play. Another three from Kemble highlighted the Huskies' run thanks to a quick pass by Louie Wild (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic).

The lead changed hands three more times over the next two minutes before West Chester took the lead for good, 83-82, at the 3:57 mark. The Golden Rams pushed the lead to seven, 96-89, with 24 seconds to play, and a layup by Nelson cut the deficit back to five, 96-91, but the Huskies just ran out of time to complete the comeback victory.
 
The Golden Rams led by as many as 16, 32-16, with 8:49 on the clock in the first half, but the Huskies chipped away and cut it back to seven, 32-25, thanks to a free throw by Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West). West Chester pushed its lead back to 10 thanks to four-straight free throws from a shooting foul, and a tech sent the Golden Rams to the free-throw line. A layup from Anderson cut the lead back to six, 42-36, with 4:00 to play, but West Chester closed out the half on a 9-6 run to take the 51-42 lead into the break.

For the game, the Huskies shot 47.2% from the floor (34-for-72) and was 13-for-24 (54.2%) from beyond the arc, while the Golden Rams shot 42.7% (32-for-75) from the floor and were 11-for-24 (45.8%) from long range. The Golden Rams were 25-of-32 from the free-throw line, while Bloomsburg finished the day 10-of-16.
 
Elmore led the Huskies with 25 points and six assists, while Anderson finished the day with 22 points and five helpers. Nelson led the team with 11 rebounds and added six-point while Rodriguez finished the day with 14 points, eight assists, and five rebounds. Kemble posted 11 points for Bloomsburg.
 
The Huskies look to get back into the win column when they host Clarion University on Monday in their final PSAC East/West crossover contest. Opening tipoff is slated for 7:30 pm at Nelson Field House.