BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg men's basketball fell to Shepherd, 65-54 in a tightly-contested Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) bout inside the Nelson Field House on Thursday night.
 
An impressive first half for Bloomsburg (5-14, 2-11 PSAC) saw the home team go 12-for-26 (46.15 percent) while going 8-for-18 (44.44 percent) from beyond the arc. Overall, the Huskies shot 37.3 percent (19-for-51) on the night. Shepherd (11-8, 8-5) went 25-for-55 from the floor while sinking nine three-pointers.
 
Ries Naugle (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) led the contest in scoring, finishing the night with 24 points. The redshirt-freshman went 10-for-19 and drained four three-pointers. Chase Smucker (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) notched 12 points going 3-for-6 with a pair of threes and four free throws. George Sabatini (Mountain Top, Pa./Holy Redeemer) tallied six points while also recording four rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal.
 
After the maroon and gold drew an early foul, Sabatini took the inbound and laid it in to put Bloomsburg on the board. The Huskies extended its lead just over a minute later as Courtney Davis II (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) sank a triple from the wing. Brody Davis got the Rams on the board with a three of his own before Naugle put the Bloomsburg ahead by five one sport with his first three of the night.
 
Shepherd slowly worked to tie the game at 11-11 before taking its first lead of the night on a layup from Daouda Traore with 12 minutes to go in the half. The layup kicked off a 15-7 run for Shepherd to move the score to 26-18.
 
Naugle and Smucker worked in tandem to regain the advantage for Bloomsburg, combining for a trio of threes and a layup to take a 29-26 lead. Shepherd worked its way back to the lead before reaching halftime ahead, 35-32.
 
The Rams carried the momentum out of the break and posted eight unanswered points to take a double-digit lead over the Huskies. Bloomsburg chipped away at the Shepherd lead over the next six minutes, pulling within two at 46-44 with 11:14 to play. The maroon and gold kept the visitors within two possessions until the final minutes of the contest until a late surge lifted Shepherd to a 65-54 victory.
 
The Huskies are right back in action on Saturday, January 31 as they travel to Shippensburg for a 3 p.m. contest with the Raiders.