BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team fell to Lock Haven in a tightly contested game by a final score of 85-79 Wednesday evening at Nelson Field House.
The Huskies crawled back from half-time deficit to take a lead with under five minutes to play in the second half, but after the Bald Eagles answered, Bloomsburg's offense went cold and was unable to retake an advantage.
Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) paced the Huskies offense with 25 points and had a double-double with 10 rebounds. Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) was also a point away from a double-double as the junior forward hauled in 15 rebounds and scored nine points. Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) had 14 points while Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard) knocked down a team-high five threes and finished the day with 17 points.
The Huskies shot well as a team from behind the arc, especially in the second half. The squad was 7-13 on three-point attempts in the second half alone and finished with 11 made threes for the game.
Three-point field goals were important for the Huskies during their comeback in the second half. Trailing by two, a three by Mortellite with 11:45 to play gave the squad a one-point advantage and its first lead of the second half. Then, after a quick scoring burst by the Bald Eagles, Rodriguez buried two shots from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions to knot things up at 65 with under 10 minutes left.
Rodriguez kept up his hot shooting night by making a jumper for the next score of the game to give the Huskies a two-point lead. Lock Haven answered with a three of their own to go up by one, but Cam Villarouel (Cumming, GA/State College (PA)) responded with a three to put the Huskies back on top. A quick 4-0 scoring run by Lock Haven put the away team back up by two until Rodriguez answered once again with a three to take a one-point lead with 4:50 to go in regulation.
Bloomsburg would take the lead one more time on a jumper by Villarouel and were able to hang around late, but some fruitless possessions on offense put halt to any more comeback attempts by the home team. Nelson brought the Huskies within one point of the Bald Eagles' lead, but Bloomsburg had a turnover and missed two jump shots on their next three possessions. A good free throw by Nelson made it a two-point game with under 30 seconds, however, some clutch free-throw shooting by Lock Haven sealed the game.
In what was a tight first half that saw nine lead changes, the Bald Eagles were able to take a multi-possession lead before the break, stretching its lead to as much as nine until the Huskies cut it six at the half.
Bloomsburg won the rebounding category (40-37) and shot the ball 42.2% from the floor, including its 11-25 (44.0%) field goals from the three-point range. Due to the success from the outside, the Huskies had an uncharacteristic 18 points in the paint compared to Lock Haven's 40. The team was also above their season average from the free-throw line, shooting 14-19 (73.3%) from the charity stripe. Bloomsburg had seven different players score during the contest.
Lock Haven had four players in double figures as DaQuan Granberry and Mark Anthony Fidelis each had 22 points. The two players combined for 10 made three-point shots as the Bald Eagles were just as hot as the Huskies from the outside, also going 11-25 from three-point land. Eli Washington had 10 points and Jesse McPherson had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Bloomsburg (5-18, 4-15 PSAC) will host Shippensburg University (15-8, 12-6 PSAC) at the Nelson Field House on Saturday for its next contest.
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