BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team lost 70-62 to Shippensburg on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at the Nelson Field House. 
 
The Huskies fell behind early as the Red Raiders grabbed the opening lead and held onto it for the remainder of the contest, despite a 42-point second half by Bloomsburg. 
 
Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) led the Huskies in scoring with 19 points and added five rebounds. Ash Kemble (Myerstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon County) had 12 points and five rebounds off the bench while Cam Villarouel (Cumming, GA/State College (PA)) also finished in double figures off the bench with 11 points. Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) led the team in rebounds with 10 and had six points. Fellow big man Hunter Healy (Quakertown PA/Bishop McDevitt) had eight boards and four points. 
 
Shippensburg began the game on a 12-3 run over the course of the first five minutes of the opening half. The Red Raiders would then extend its lead to 24-5 after a Rashon Johnson field goal with 10:50 to go. Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) and Anderson had the first two buckets for Bloomsburg. A few minutes later, Anderson connected for his second three-point field goal of the game to cut it to 16. After Shippensburg went 2-4 at the line on its next two possessions, Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) converted a bucket while getting fouled and made his shot at the line to cut the deficit to 15. That would be as close as the Huskies would get to cutting into the lead before the half as the Red Raiders would go on to outscore the Huskies 13-6 and take a 42-20 lead into the break. 
 
Shippensburg scored on two of its first three possessions in the second half to jump out to a 27-point lead, its largest of the game. The Huskies responded with a quick 11-2 run to cut back into the lead and that came by a large part of the scoring by Kemble, who had five of those points. A three by Mortellite and Anderson were the other buckets during that span. 
 
Four minutes later, a quick sequence would again bring the Huskies back within striking distance. Down 59-42 with under 11 minutes left in the second half, a Justin Rodriguez (Easton, Pa./Morristown-Beard) layup was followed by a Kemble three to make the deficit 12 points. Bloomsburg, however, would not be able to cut into the lead again until the final minute of regulation. Down 13 with under 30 seconds to play, Kemble followed up on an offensive rebound and a successful three-point field goal by Anderson with time expiring made the final tally 70-62. Bloomsburg outscored Shippensburg 42-28 in the second half. 
 
Shippensburg was led in scoring by Jake Biss as he finished with 20 points. Rashon Johnson had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Carlos Carter was the third and final Red Raider in double figures as he had 14 points. Dom Selva added six points and had a huge day on the glass by contributing 15 rebounds. Shippensburg outrebounded Bloomsburg 54-40.
 
The Huskies outscored the Red Raiders 38-24 in the paint and converted more total field goals, going 27-68 from the floor while Shippensburg was 24-71. Shippensburg was 17-26 from the foul line compared to Bloomsburg's chart of 3-6. 
 
Bloomsburg (5-19, 4-16 PSAC) will play at Shepherd (11-14, 7-12 PSAC) on Monday for their next contest. That game will tip off at 6:00 PM.

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