BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg men's basketball team got back in the win column Monday night with an exciting 78-74 win over Mansfield University. With the win, the Huskies improved to 5-17 for the season and 4-14 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action, while the Mounties dropped to 4-20 and 3-14 in conference play.
 
Mansfield jumped out to an early lead as they took a 12-7 advantage just 4:38 into action. The Mounties pushed that advantage to eight, 21-13, with 11:32 to play before junior Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) hit a jumper just outside the paint to kick off a 13-0 run for Bloomsburg and the 26-21 lead with 7:10 to play in the first. After a jumper by Jaz Ferrell halted the run, freshmen Hunter Healy (Quakertown PA/Bishop McDevitt) and Cam Villarouel (Cumming, GA/State College (PA)) hit back-to-back jumpers, and graduate student Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) hit back-to-back threes to give the Huskies a 36-25 lead with 3:51 to play before halftime. Ash Kemble (Myerstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon County) hit another three for Bloomsburg to extend the lead to 14, 44-30. Justice Smith made the final basket of the half to cut the deficit to 44-33 with 1:33 to play. Both teams' defense took over for the last 90 seconds, and Bloomsburg went into the locker room up by 11.
 
After the break, Bloomsburg kept the Mounties at bay and eventually took a 15-point lead, 70-55, at the 8:45 mark. However, the Mounties hung around and slowly chipped away at the lead. Mansfield used a 19-4 run over the next three minutes of game action to tie the game at 74-74 with 3:51 to go in regulation. After a pair of free throws from Marcus Friend tied the game at 74-74, junior Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) disrupted a pass by Manir Waller and took the steal to the other end of the court, and finished off his fast-break layup to give the Huskies a 76-74 lead with 2:02 to play.
 
Neither team could get a shot to fall over the next minute of gameplay, and junior Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard) grabbed a bad pass from Friend to get the Huskies possession back. Head coach John Sanow called a time out to set up his offense, and junior Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) got the ball in his hands from Rodriguez under the basket. A turn-around layup from Nelson pushed the Huskies' lead to 78-74 with 10 seconds to go and sealed the win for the Huskies. A foul on Nelson's shot sent him to the free-throw line, and the Mounties grabbed the defensive board after Nelson couldn't connect. Still, the Huskies' defense wouldn't allow the Mounties to run any type of quick offense, and an off-kilter shot didn't go at the final seconds as Bloomsburg hung on for the win.
 
As a team, the Huskies shot 55.6% (35-for-63) from the floor and were 6-for-21 (28.8%) from the three-point range for the game. The Huskies finished the day 2-for-8 from the free-throw line.
 
Nelson led the Huskies with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Mortellite and Elmore chipped in 13 points. Kemble finished the day with 12 points while Anderson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 for the Huskies. Rodriguez dished out 10 assists and had a team-best three steals.
 
The Mounties finished the day 28-for-73 (38.4%) from the floor and were just 7-for-29 (24.1%) from long range. Mansfield went 11-for-12 from the free-throw line and won the rebounding battle, 39-37.
 
Smith led all players with 22 points while Waller finished the day with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Ferrell chipped in 16 points for the Mounties, and both Friend and Smith dished out six assists for Mansfield.

The Huskies return home on Wednesday when they host Lock Haven University in a key PSAC match-up at Nelson Field House. Both teams are looking to earn a spot in the upcoming PSAC tournament. The opening tip-off is set for 6:00 pm.