BLOOMSBURG – The Mansfield University men's basketball team fell to Bloomsburg University, 82-55 on Wednesday night, Feb. 12 inside Nelson Field House.
Junior
Jonathan Ward led the Mounties with a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Junior
Taylor Sweeney and senior
Mike Rell scored eight points each with Rell adding four rebounds and three assists.
The Mountaineers (6-17, 5-13 PSAC) bench outscored the Huskies', 30-8, but Bloomsburg (9-15, 6-12 PSAC) dished out a game-high 18 assists and notched a game-high 15 second-chance points.
Bloomsburg shot 44 percent (31-of-69) from the floor while holding Mansfield to 33 percent (23-of-70).
Free throws doomed the Mounties in the second half, as the Huskies built a 20-point lead through the opening 15 minutes of the period thanks to a 10-of-12 effort at the line and preventing the Mounties from reaching the charity stripe. Mansfield matched the Huskies production from the floor, but Bloomsburg capitalized on free points to make up the scoring difference. The Huskies shot 12-of-15 from the line in the second period, compared to the Mounties, who were 1-of-3.
In the first half, the Mounties finished with 14 bench points and five blocks but Bloomsburg shot 47 percent (18-of-38) from the floor and led 8-2 in fast-break points to head into the half with a 40-29 lead. Bloomsburg scored the opening bucket but four-straight points from Mansfield gave the Mounties their only lead of the half. English netted a layup to knot the game at six before the Huskies went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes. A layup from Sweeney cut the deficit to three with 10:07 to go, but that was as close as Mansfield could get. Rell led the Mounties with six points in the half and Justin Anderson led the huskies with 12.
Justin Anderson led the Huskies with a game-high 26 points and Same Saxton and Ky Mauras scored 14 points each.
The Mounties are back on the court on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. when they travel to Millersville University for a PSAC East contest.
