Jefferson scores 1,000th point in loss to West Chester

Coach Sanow Congratulates Jefferson

BLOOMSBURG - Matt Jefferson (Philadelphia/George Washington) scored 32 points, including the 1,000th of his career, but it wasn't enough as the Huskies of Bloomsburg University lost to West Chester, 85-82, in two overtimes Wednesday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game.

The Golden Rams (11-7, 3-2 PSAC East) took the early edge in the game grabbing an 11-6 lead at the 15:43 mark on a pair of free throws by Lenwood Greenwood. Later, with the Huskies (9-10, 1-4 PSAC East) trailing 13-9, Bloomsburg put together a 17-3 run to take a 26-16 lead with seven minutes left in the opening half. Jaren Burdine (Reading/Reading) scored five points in the run with Jefferson getting four.

West Chester cut the lead back to two points, 29-27, before the Huskies answered with a three from Buddy Rose and a free throw from Marko Vucajnk (Zalec, Slovenia) to lead by four at halftime, 33-29.

In the second half the Huskies stormed out to 15-point lead, 54-39, with 12 minutes left to play in the game. The Huskies 15-3 run over a four-minute stretch to get the big lead with Jefferson netting seven of those 15 points.

West Chester though rallied and used a 18-3 run to erase the deficit and knot the game at 57-all with 6:19 to play in the game. Bloomsburg went back in front 61-57 on two free throws and a dunk by Jefferson before the Golden Rams rallied once more and took a three-point lead 65-62 with 42 seconds to play in regulation. The Huskies, though, got back to within one on a jumper by Drew Jerry (Philadelphia/Olney) with 26 seconds left before two free throws from Shawn Werdt made it 67-64 with 20 seconds to play. Jefferson then came down and nailed a three-pointer with six seconds left to tie the game at 67-all. West Chester's last second attempt to win the game rolled out and the team's went to overtime.

In the first extra session, Bloomsburg held a five point lead, 72-67, but saw the Golden Rams get to within one at 74-73 with 11 seconds left in overtime. After the Huskies hit one of two free throws, Kevin Stokes drove the length of the floor and got a layup to force a second overtime.

In the second overtime, West Chester took a three-point lead, 82-79 with 2:20 to play. The Huskies tied the score at 82-all on a couple of Jefferson free throws. After the Golden Rams connected on just two of four free throw attempts in the final 50 seconds, the Huskies still had life with 14 seconds to play. However, Bloomsburg had the ball stolen with six seconds to play. After Stokes hit one of two for a three-point play, Bloomsburg long pass down court was stolen giving West Chester the victory.

Jefferson became the 23rd player in Bloomsburg history to reach 1,000 points and was just three points shy of his career-best in scoring. Joining Jefferson in double digits was Jaren Burdine with 16 points.

West Chester got 26 points from Werdt and 19 from Lenwood Greenwood.