KUTZTOWN, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University men's basketball team lost to Kutztown 86-68 in its season finale on Wednesday evening. Bloomsburg battled back from multiple deficits and fought to make it a two-possession game with under six minutes to play in the second half, but a late run by the Golden Bears shifted the momentum and lifted the home team to the win.
The Huskies had five players in double figures with Justin Anderson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) leading the way with 19 points. The left-handed guard added five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals. Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) had a big day on the glass with 14 rebounds, 11 points and seven assists. Fellow forward Travis Elmore (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) had 14 points in 20 minutes off the bench. Peyton Mortellite (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) added 13 points and freshman Ash Kemble (Myerstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon County) had 11.
Bloomsburg gained its first lead in the contest just over three minutes into the game when Kemble knocked down a pair of free throws to give the team a one-point advantage. From there, the contest remained tight over the next five minutes of play until a quick scoring burst by Kutztown. With under 10 minutes in the half, the Golden Bears were able to jump out to an eight-point lead – the team's biggest of the half – following a pair of free throws. The Huskies quickly responded with a dunk by Anderson and back-to-back field goals by Elmore on their next three possessions to bring the deficit down to two. Another score by Elmore with 5:09 remaining gave the Huskies another one-point lead and their first in nearly eight minutes. Kutztown did regain its lead, however, and was able to stretch its lead back to eight by halftime.
Bloomsburg began the second half exactly how it wanted to by going on a 10-2 scoring run to tie things up at 43 two and a half minutes into the frame. A three by Anderson capped off the run. Four minutes later, a three-point field goal by Mortellite would give the Huskies a four-point advantage and a lead that they would cling to for three more minutes. A jump shot with 11:19 minutes to play by Michael Smith, who led Kutztown in scoring with 19 points, would be the final lead change of the game as it gave the Golden Bears a slim edge.
The contest remained tight and was a four-point game with 6:03 left after Nelson converted an and-one. That's when a scoring run by Kutztown put the game away. The final six minutes saw Kutztown go on a 20-6 run to make it 86-68 at the final horn.
The Huskies shot 40% (28-70) from the floor and received a boost in the second half on shots from beyond the arc, going 4-9 (44%) from three-point land. Bloomsburg had an advantage on the boards by out rebounding Kutztown 41-38 and recording 17 points on second-chance opportunities. The Huskies were above their average at the charity stripe by shooting 8-11 (72.7%) at the line.
Kutztown made the most of its trips to the foul line also, going 21-26 (80.8%) on free-throw attempts. The Golden Bears shot 54.84% (17-31) in the second half alone and were 31-64 (48.4%) on field goals for the game.
Bloomsburg closes out its 2021-22 campaign with an overall record of 5-21 and conference record of 4-17.
Follow the Huskies all season long on Twitter (@GoBUHuskies), Facebook (BUHuskies), and Instagram (BUHuskies)
