BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team dropped a home contest to East Stroudsburg by a final score of 86-66 Monday evening at Nelson Fieldhouse.
After battling back from an early deficit, the Huskies managed to take a lead with under eight minutes to play in the first half, but the Warriors responded with a late rally to take a double-digit lead into halftime and held on to their advantage for the remainder of the game.
Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) led Bloomsburg in scoring with a team-high 19 points. Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) added 14 points and Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) finished with 11. Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) led all players with 12 rebounds, a category the Huskies held the advantage in by outrebounding the Warriors 41-37. Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard), who had eight points, and William Melson (Allentown, Pa./Dieruff) led the Huskies in assists as both players had four apiece.
The Warriors opened up the game on a 10-2 run after forcing several turnovers to lead to scores on the other end. The Huskies were able to get settled, however, and took its first lead of the ballgame after a three-point shot by Mortellite with 14:50 remaining in the first half. The game remained tightly contested for the next eight minutes and the Huskies jumped out to a three-point lead, which would be its largest of the game, with 7:52 to go after another three by Mortellite. East Stroudsburg would answer in a big way after the shot though, closing out the half on a 14-0 run to take a double-digit lead into the break at 40-29.
In the second half, the Huskies closed the gap to seven after Rodriguez knocked down a three to make the score 44-37 with 17:04 in the contest. Then, East Stroudsburg answered again by going on a 28-9 run to take a commanding 72-46 lead with just under seven minutes of play left. The Warriors maintained their double-digit advantage for the rest of the game.
As a team, the Huskies shot 43.5% from the floor (27-62) and went 5-18 from three-point range. Bloomsburg was able to capitalize on its nine offensive rebounds and scored 11 second-chance points.
For East Stroudsburg (12-6, 10-4 PSAC), Marc Rodriguez led all scorers with 22 points and Lakeem McAliley added 20. Justin Paz was the other Warrior in double figures, finishing with 11 points.
The Huskies (3-14, 2-11 PSAC) will play its next game on Wednesday at Mansfield University. That game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
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