Bloomsburg Falls to District of Columbia

BLOOMSBURG-The University of the District of Columbia handed the Bloomsburg University men's basketball team its first loss off the season, defeating the Huskies, 56-50, at the Nelson Field House on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies winning streak ends at six games.

The Huskies offense struggled early and they found themselves trailing 21-11 with 6:21 remaining in the half. However Bloomsburg would go on a late 10-1 run to cut the lead to 22-21 at halftime. Jaren Burdine (Reading/ Reading) scored five points during the run.

In the second half the firebirds regained their 10 point lead when Charlie Smallwood connected on a three-pointer to give UDC a 35-25 lead with 15:54 remaining. The Huskies would battle back again, cutting the lead to two points when Matt Jefferson (Philadelphia/ George Washington) scored on a lay-up with 8:50 to go in the game.

The score was close the rest of the way and Bloomsburg found themselves trailing 52-50 with 1:59 remaining. The Huskies had several opportunities to tie the game in the final two minutes but could not convert. The Firebirds would then convert four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Burdine and Niko Traykov (Bulgaria/ St. Franics, NY) each had nine points to lead Bloomsburg. Willie Shaw scored a game-high 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the Firebirds.

Bloomsburg, 6-1, will visit Shippensburg on December 19th at 8:00 p.m.