BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – An early deficit was too much for Bloomsburg's men's basketball team to overcome as the Huskies fell to East Stroudsburg by a final tally of 96-74 at home in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division contest Monday evening.
 
The Warriors (18-5, 12-5 PSAC) jumped on the Huskies (1-20, 1-16 PSAC) early on by getting out to a 16-6 lead six minutes into the contest, and despite several comeback efforts by Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg used some high-percentage shooting to pad its lead throughout en route to its double-digit win.
 
Bloomsburg had two players with over 20 points in the game. Louie Wild (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic) finished with 20 points and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Fellow teammate Jake Nelson (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Rustin) led all players with 25 points, and the senior forward hauled in 10 rebounds to pick up his fifth double-double of the season.
 
Ash Kemble (Myerstown, Pa./Fork Union Military Academy) was the third and final Husky to finish in double figures, accumulating 10 points to go along with three assists and two steals. Matt Bengel (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) added nine points and Jagger Dressler (Danville, Pa./Danville) had seven in 23 minutes off the bench.
 
East Stroudsburg had six players in double figures with David Duda, Jr. and Jaelen McGlone leading the way with 15 points each. Justin Paz and Carlos Pepin both had 14 points while Lakeem McAliley had 13 and Mike Millsip finished with 12. In all, 10 different players scored for ESU and the team scored 42 bench points as it used its depth to pull away from Bloomsburg.
 
The Warriors started the game off hot from the floor and McGlone paved the way, scoring eight of his team's first 13 points as East Stroudsburg built a 13-4 lead with 14:36 left to play in the opening half. Wild and Nelson kept the Huskies in it, however, and the duo combined to score Bloomsburg's first 21 points of the game. It was not until Dressler hit a three pointer with 5:04 remaining in the first half that a third Husky player would score, and his shot made it an eight-point game at 32-24. Wild finished the first half with 14 points while Nelson had nine.
 
Following Dressler's three, Duda answered for ESU on the team's next two possessions by hitting back-to-back three pointers to put the Warriors back on top by double digits. Duda was unconscious from three-point range in the first half, going a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. ESU would go on to take a 48-33 lead into halftime.
 
Bloomsburg fought tough in the second half and were able to trim the 15-point deficit to 11 after Desmond Freeman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) knocked down a three with 11:29 remaining to make it a 63-52 game, but the Huskies were never able to make it a single-digit game in the second half.
 
One factor that allowed ESU to cling to a double-digit lead for the entirety of the second half was its high shooting percentage. The Warriors shot the ball 59.4% (19-for-32) from the floor, and a majority of their points came in the paint on layups. Of the team's 48 points in the second half, 34 were scored in the paint. Additionally, 25 of their second-half points came from the bench as 16 different ESU players played in the final frame.  
 
Nelson played a big role in Bloomsburg recording 41 second-half points as the junior recorded 16 of his 25 in the final half. He also had seven of his 10 rebounds in the second half. Kemble also came alive on the offensive end in the second half, scoring eight of his 10 points.
 
For the game, Bloomsburg shot the ball 43.1% (25-for-58) from the field. Defensively, the team forced 17 ESU turnovers and the Huskies finished the game with 16 points off turnovers.
 
The Huskies will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Shepherd (11-11, 8-8 PSAC). The contest is scheduled to tip off at 3:00 PM after the women's game.