Bloomsburg University Men's Basketball Loses Heartbreaker to Middlebury College

Ruben Britt (Voorhees, NJ/Coppin State) had a shot to win the game following a steal with just 21 seconds remaining, but a pair of turnovers in the final seconds of the game sealed the Huskies fate.

In the first half, Middlebury would race out to a 6-2 lead before back-to-back lay-up's by Larry Webster (Elkton, MD/Elkton) and Daniel Hoover (Lansdale/North Penn) knotted the score at six just four minutes in to the first half. Middlebury would respond with a 12-2 run over the next 2:38, capped off by a Kevin Kelleher three-pointer to give Middlebury an 18-8 advantage.

Middlebury would go up 22-12 before Bloomsburg closed the gap with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half. A Marko Vucajnk (Slovenia/Marist) lay-up and a three-pointer by Britt pulled the Huskies within five, 22-17. A Britt free throw would narrow the gap to four, but Kyle Dudley and Ashton Coghlan three-pointers keyed a 14-2 run to give Middlebury a 36-20 lead with 2:37 remaining in the first half.

The Huskies would close the gap over the final 2:30 of the first, as a Vucajnk lay- up and another Britt three-pointer cut the Middlebury advantage to 37-27 at halftime.

The Huskies responded in the first five minutes of the second half. Back-to-back lay-up's by Trevon Johnson (Snow Hill, MD/Snow Hill) and Webster kept the lead at ten, and Johnson and Britt would connect on a pair of three's to cut the Middlebury lead to just two with 14:41 remaining.

Middlebury would take a 48-45 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining, but Britt connected on his third three-pointer of the game to tie the game at 48 all. The Huskies took their first lead of the game with 7:25 remaining when Johnson hit a jumper to give the Huskies a 52-50 advantage.

Middlebury responded with an 8-2 run over the next three minutes before a Ronnie Benson (Harleysville/Souderton) three-pointer made the score 58-55 with 3:22 remaining. Johnson then stole the ball from Middlebury's Ben Rudin and fed Britt for the lay-up to cut the lead down to one, 58-57.

Rudin hit a pair of free throws to make the score 60-57, but Webster missed a lay-up and Hoover missed on the front end of a one-and-one. Johnson hit a lay-up with just under a minute left to cut the lead to one 60-59, but two Huskies turnovers in the final 20 seconds sealed the win for Middlebury.

Britt led the Huskies on offense with 16 points, including 3-8 shooting form three-point range. Johnson finished with 12 points and three assists, while Webster had eight points and three blocks. Aaron Smith led Middlebury with 16 points.

With the loss, Bloomsburg falls to 0-1 on the season.

The Huskies return to action tomorrow when they face St. Michael's College. That game gets underway at 5:00 p.m.