FAIRMONT, W. Va. – The Bloomsburg men's basketball team dropped its season-opener, 90-69, to Fairmont State in a non-conference matchup at the Joe Retton Classic on Friday night.
 
Bloomsburg (0-1) notched the game's first points with a mid-range jumper from senior Louie Wild (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic) on the opening possession.
 
The Huskies and Fairmont State (1-0) traded the lead in the early minutes of the contest, though the Fighting Falcons surged to a 12-point lead with 10 minutes to go in the half.
 
Momentum swung in Bloomsburg's favor as a corner three from Desmond Freeman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) began 14-0 run the gave the maroon and gold a 29-27 lead with just under six minutes left in the opening half. 10 of the Huskies' 14 points in the run came from the hands of Freeman.
 
The two teams continued to trade points in the first half, with the Huskies trailing 37-36 after 20 minutes of play.
 
Bloomsburg and Fairmont exchanged the lead twice in the first five minutes of the second, before the Fighting Falcons held on to the lead until the final whistle.
 
The Huskies shot 26-of-55 from the floor (47.3 percent), while draining 6-of 15 three-point attempts from beyond the arc.
 
Fairmont's shooting from the charity stripe helped to lift the Fighting Eagles to the win over Bloomsburg, hitting 26-of-31 free-throw attempts.
 
Freeman led the team in scoring with 15 points in the season-opener. He went 7-for-7 from the line and hit nailed both of his three-point attempts.
 
DJ Gordon (Pittsburgh, Pa./First Love Christian Academy) went 6-of-10 from the floor, recording 14 points in 18 minutes of play. Tony Henderson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) fell two rebounds short of a double-double, posting ten points and collecting eight rebounds.
 
Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) led the Huskies in rebounds with 11 boards while dropping seven points. Matt Bengel (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) led the bench scoring with nine points in 12 minutes.
 
The Huskies return to action on Saturday, November 11 as they take on West Virginia Wesleyan at 6 p.m. for the final game of the Joe Retton Classic.