KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Trailing by 17 points just over halfway through the first half, analytics would say that it was highly unlikely that the Bloomsburg men's basketball team would be able to come back and defeat Kutztown inside of Keystone Arena for the first time since Jan. 23, 2002.
 
But, thanks to the team's best offensive performance of the season and some clutch individual performances, the Huskies (1-16, 1-12 PSAC) were able to do just that and erase a 17-deficit to beat Kutztown (5-13, 5-8 PSAC) on the road and capture their first win of the 2022-23 season.
 
Additionally, the win marks the first for first-year head coach Chris Bess, and it is the team's first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) victory since Feb. 14, 2022.
 
Bloomsburg's 86 points, 33 made field goals and nine made three pointers were all season highs. Leading the way offensively was Matt Bengel (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep), who matched his career-high in points with 25 on an 11-for-18 shooting night. The sophomore added eight rebounds and three steals to his stat sheet.
 
Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) had double-double, recording a season-high 14 rebounds and scoring 12 points. All five of Bloomsburg's starters finished in double figures as Louie Wild (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic) finished with 18, Ash Kemble (Myerstown, Pa./Fork Union Military Academy) had 14, and Desmond Freeman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) scored 12. The five starters combined for 81 of the team's 86 points.
 
The Huskies scored the first points of the game on the opening possession to jump out to an early lead 30 seconds into the contest. After Kutztown's Josh Samec knocked down a three-point shot on the ensuing possession to put his team up by one, Freeman responded with a three of his own to put Bloomsburg back on top 5-3 with 18:44 remaining.
 
That lead, however, would be quickly surrendered and it would be the Huskies only lead of the contest until late in the second half as a big run by Kutztown put the Golden Bears up by double-digits. Following Freeman's three, Kutztown went on a 19-3 scoring run over the course of the next six minutes of play to gain a 22-8 lead halfway through the opening frame.
 
The Golden Bears would lead by as much as 17 following a layup by Samec at the 7:46 mark, but a late scoring run by the Huskies cut the deficit to single digits before the break. Bloomsburg closed out the first half on a 9-2 run to make it a 45-38 game at the break. Kutztown's only basket during that span came in the closing seconds when Kyree Generet scored as time on the game clock expired.
 
Though the second half belonged to Bloomsburg, it was Kutztown who started the final frame off on the right foot. The Golden Bears opened the half on a 7-3 scoring run to go back up by 11 points, and despite scoring efforts by the Huskies, Kutztown was able to fend off Bloomsburg and held an 11-point lead with 13:09 left in the game. From that point, however, the Huskies would completely shift the momentum of the game.
 
Fueled by Bengel's scoring ability, Bloomsburg went on a 10-2 scoring run over the course of the next three minutes to make it a one-possession game at 63-60. During that run, Bengel had seven of Bloomsburg's 10 points, and a clutch three-point shot from Kemble was the team's other bucket.
 
Kutztown threatened to go on several scoring runs and led by six points two more times in the half, but a jumper by Wild and dunk by Bengel on back-to-back possessions made it a one-point game with under six minutes to play. The Golden Bears received a big field goal by Wesley Butler, however, to put the team up 76-73 with 3:57 to go. Bloomsburg's next possession was arguably its biggest of the game as a three pointer by Bengel knotted the game up at 76. Neither team was able to score on the next three possessions of the game, and then Nelson was able to convert a fastbreak layup through some contact and give Bloomsburg its first lead since the second minute of the game, and the Huskies would be able to cling to that lead until the final buzzer.
 
Nelson continued his clutch play and made it a two-possession game by scoring in the paint on Bloomsburg's next offensive possession. The Huskies defense forced a turnover on Kutztown's next possession, and a jumper by Wild on the other end put Bloomsburg up 82-76 with 1:04 remaining. Following some defensive stops, free throws by Wild and Kemble made the final score 86-78.
 
Bloomsburg won the rebounding category, 39-32, and shot an even 50% (33-for-66) from the floor. From three-point range, the Huskies were 9-for-21 (42.9%) and had four players knock down a pair of triples throughout the game.
 
For Lock Haven, Samec scored a team-high 23 points and Jalen Bryant finished with 19. Robert Tucker was the only other player in double figures, finishing with 10 points in 14 minutes off the bench.
 
Bloomsburg will return to action with one more game this week at West Chester (13-6, 8-5 PSAC) on Saturday. The game will be played at 4:00 PM following the women's game, which will tip off at 2:00 PM.