Bloomsburg Rallies for Win over East Stroudsburg in Men's Basketball

EAST STROUDSBURG -- Nick Jones' (Rosedale/St. Francis) two free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining lifted the Bloomsburg University (11-13, 3-7 PSAC East) men's basketball team to a 71-69 win over East Stroudsburg University (16-8, 4-5 PSAC East) Thursday night.

The Huskies, who trailed by 10 points twice in the opening half, cut the Warriors lead to six at halftime. Bloomsburg slowly chipped away at the East Stroudsburg lead in the second half and when Jaren Burdine (Reading/Reading) completed a three-point play the Huskies led 52-51 with 11:30 to play in the game. East Stroudsburg regained a five point lead, 59-54, before two buckets by Burdine and one from Jones gave Bloomsburg a 60-59 lead.

The teams would then be tied four more times, the last at 66-all. That's Jones hit a layup and was fouled. After Jones converted the free throw for a conventional three-point play, Bloomsburg led 69-66 with 1:02 to play. After the Warriors' Channon Easley hit one of two free throws to cut the Bloomsburg lead to 69-67, Bloomsburg turned the ball back on its next possession. Ronald Lewis was then fouled and hit both free to tie the score at 69-all with 34 seconds left.

The Huskies worked the clock down and Jones then drove hard to the basket, where he was fouled. After making both shots, the Warriors had one last shot to tie or win the game. However, Lewis' shot was off the mark at the buzzer giving Bloomsburg the victory.

Billy Bryan (Denver/Holy Name) led the Huskies with 15 points, while Burdine finished with 14, Jones 13 and Matt Jefferson (Philadelphia/George Washington) 10.

East Stroudsburg got 22 points from Darron Bradley in the loss.

Bloomsburg will play at Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.