Bloomsburg University men's basketball falls to Penn State Wilkes-Barre

LEHMAN—Desmond Sims scored 14 points to lead three players in double figures as Penn State Wilkes-Barre held off a late Bloomsburg University rally to post a 73-70 win in men’s college basketball action on Wednesday.

The Mountain Lions led by five on two occasions in the opening 10 minutes before the Huskies rallied behind the play of Antoine Ellison-Love (Williamsport, Loyalsock). The freshman scored five straight points to tie the game at 14-14, while Lorenzo Christmas (Norristown, Norristown) then added a layup to give Bloomsburg its first lead game at 16-14.

Later in the half the Huskies led by four points, 21-17, following a free throw from Larry Webster III (Elkton, MD, Elkton) with 4:03 to go. Penn State Wilkes-Barre, though, rallied and used a 13-2 run to close out the half to grab the biggest lead of the night at 32-23 at halftime.

The Huskies came out to start the second half with John Schwarz (Delta, Perry Hall)scoring six straight points for Bloomsburg cutting the deficit to 34-29. PSU countered with a run of its own using a 9-2 run over a three-minute stretch the lead to 43-31. After the Mountain Lions made it a 14-point lead, 50-36, on a bucket by Jon Kelly, the Huskies got a couple of free throws from Ronnie Benson (Harleysville, Souderton Area) and Christmas to pull BU to within 11 at 50-39 with 10:30 to play.

Back-to-back buckets Matt Clemons for PSU, one a three-pointer, pushed the lead to 61-45 with 6:12 to play. Then later a 6-0 run gave the Mountain Lions their biggest lead of the game at 67-48 with 3:25 to play.

The Huskies though battled back using a 12-1 run, including a three-pointer byJordan Wartman (Barnesville, Mahanoy Area), to cut the deficit to 69-60 with 1:10 to play in the game. In the final 30 seconds a couple of free throws by Jesse Betar (Altoona, Altoona) and two baskets, one a three-pointer, by Dontahe Jordan (Williamsport, Williamsport) made the final 73-70.

The Huskies, 1-1, were led by Jordan with 18 points, while Christmas added 11. For PSU Wilkes-Barre, 3-0, Desmond Sims scored 14 points, while Shawn Washington and Matt Clemons each scored 10.

Bloomsburg will host Chestnut Hill on Saturday at the Nelson Field House. Game time has been moved to 5 p.m. (from its original 3 p.m. start time).