BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg men's basketball team fell to Georgian Court, 69-65, in a tightly-contested home opener inside the Nelson Field House on Wednesday night.
 
Bloomsburg (0-3) tallied its highest shooting percentage of the season, shooting 41.5 percent (22-for-53) from the floor. Georgian Court (2-1) shot 60 percent (12-for-20) in the second half to lift the Lions to victory.
 
Gabe Springer (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Wallenpaupack) led the Huskies in points with 14 while going 5-for-7 from the floor. The senior fell two rebounds short of notching his first-career double-double. Ries Naugle (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) finished in the double digits for the second time this season, posting 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting with a trio of threes.
 
George Sabatini (Mountain Top, Pa./Holy Redeemer) ended the night a point short of a double-double, notching a game-high 14 rebounds. The sophomore also registered three assists, two blocks and two steals. Courtney Davis II (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) recorded ten points with five made free throws.
 
Springer got the home crowd energized early with a putback slam to put the Huskies on the board first. The Lions responded back quickly with a pair of free throws and a layup from Jaycen Santucci to gain the lead. Springer found the basket again with a jumper and a free throw to give the lead back to Bloomsburg.
 
Naugle's first three-pointer of the night gave the Huskies a four-point lead just before the first media timeout. GCU once again went on a short run, scoring six unanswered to take a 10-8 lead. From there, the two sides continued to trade points with the maroon and gold keeping Georgian Court within a possession for much of the first half. A layup from Sabatini with 2:26 remaining in the frame gave Bloomsburg a 32-30 lead. The advantage did not last long as a pair of layups from the Lions put the visitors ahead 34-32 heading into halftime.
 
Offensive struggles to start the second half from the Huskies allowed GCU to take a 49-36lead just over six minutes into the frame. Kaaba Murray (Harrisburg, Pa./Skyline Prep) put an end to the Lions' 15-4 run with a jumper that gave the Huskies some momentum. Bloomsburg slowly chipped away at Georgian Court's lead before tying the game at 57-57 on a layup from Naugle with 5:12 to play.
 
Late turnovers and intentional fouls put the visitors ahead 69-62 before a three at the buzzer from Naugle brought the contest to the final score of 69-65.
 
Bloomsburg continues its three-game homestand on Tuesday, November 25 as Penn-State Scranton makes the trip to the Nelson Field House for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.