Bloomsburg Rallies for Win over Slippery Rock

BLOOMSBURG—John Owens (Philadelphia/Abington Friends) scored a team-high 14 points to help rally Bloomsburg University to a 63-58 win over Slippery Rock in men's basketball action Tuesday night.

The Huskies overcome a sluggish start which saw them be held scoreless for the first nearly the first nine minutes of the game while falling behind 13-0.

Freshman Jeremiah Long (New Columbia/Mifflinburg) finally got Bloomsburg on the board with a jumper at the 11:06 mark. Bloomsburg would later fall behind by as many as 18 points, 25-7, after a layup from the Rock's Dejan Jancic with 6:56 left in the half.

However, the Huskies responded with a 13-0 run of its own to get back in the game. Buddy Rose (Philadelphia/Mastbaum) started the rally with a three-point play before Owens added a pair of free throws to make it a 25-13 game. Another layup from Rose and a three-pointer from Andrew Jerry (Philadelphia/Olney) closed the gap to 25-17 with 4:42 to play in the first half. Another three-point play, this one from Bob Nenstiel (Nuremburg/Weatherly) closed out the run and helped the Huskies get to within five at 25-20 with 3:55 left in the half.

In the second half, the Huskies tied the score at 37-37 with 15:11 left to play on a Buddy Rose basket. After the Rock moved back in front, the Huskies finally took their first lead of the game, 46-44, on a three-pointer from Mike Cheatle (Lower Gwynedd/Hatobor-Horsham). The teams traded leads before the Huskies went in front for good, 53-51, on another three-pointer from Cheatle.

The Rock did have a chance to tie the game with under a minute to go, but Owens had a layup and two free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the win.

Bloomsburg, 3-8, got 14 from Owens, 12 from Buddy Rose and 11 from Ryan Nenstiel (Nuremburg/Weatherly).

Slippery Rock, 0-11, got 15 points from Ben Daniels and 14 from Bill Johnson in the loss.

The Huskies visit California (PA) on Saturday at 3 p.m.