Bloomsburg Downs Roberts Wesleyan in Men's Basketball

ERIE —Jaren Burdine (Reading/Reading) came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points to lead Bloomsburg University to an 81-63 win over Roberts Wesleyan in the consolation game of the Gary Miller Classic at Gannon University Saturday night.

The two teams traded leads in the early going with no team grabbing more than a four point lead. Then with 9:25 left and Roberts Wesleyan leading 22-20, the Huskies went on a 14-2 run to take control of the contest.

Bob Nenstiel (Nuremburg/Weatherly) scored six points in the run, while Billy Bryan (Denver/Holy Name) and Andrew Jerry (Philadelphia/Olney) added three points each which saw the Huskies take a 34-24 with 4:55 to play in the half.

After Roberts Wesleyan trimmed the deficit back to seven points, 34-27, Bloomsburg got back-to-back three-pointers from Ryan Nenstiel (Nuremburg/Weatherly) in a 90-second span to stretch the advantage to 43-27 with 1:21 left to go in the period. The Raiders then closed the half with a four-point run to trail by 12 points, 43-31.

In the second half, Burdine came off the bench and scored six points in the first four minutes of the half to help the Huskies lead 52-39. The Raiders then scored four straight to get back to within nine points at 52-43 with 15:12 to play, but that would be as close as the Raiders would get.

Bloomsburg answered the mini-run with baskets by Bob Nenstiel and Andrew Jerry to back up by 13, 56-43 with 12:26 to go in the game.

Later, after the Huskies extended their lead to 67-52, on a two free throws by John Owens, the Raiders got a three-pointer and a layup from Vlad Drobac to get back to within 10 points, 67-57, with 5:43 to left in the game.

Bloomsburg though, got a jumper from Bob Nenstiel to lead 69-57. Then, after two free throws by Roberts Wesleyans' Chaz Franklin brought the score to 71-60 at the 3:26 mark, the Huskies closed out the game with 10-3 run to win by 18.

Along with Burdine's 19 points and 10 rebounds, Ryan Nenstiel added 10 points with John Owens (Philadelphia/Abington Friends) getting 13 points and a career-high 13 assists. In addition, Billy Bryan and Bob Nenstiel added 10 points each.

Roberts Wesleyan was led by Drobac with 16 points, while Mark Kish chipped in with 12 and Chaz Franklin 11.

Bloomsburg is back in action Wednesday hosting California (PA) at 7 p.m. at the Nelson Field House.