Bloomsburg Grabs Win In Final Seconds, 77-76

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Bloomsburg's Alssene Saintilus' dunk with 7.3 seconds remaining lifted the visiting Huskies to a 77-76 victory over host West Chester University in a PSAC East men's basketball showdown inside Hollinger Field House Saturday afternoon.
 
West Chester (12-5, 5-2 PSAC East) fell ½ game behind Bloomsburg (9-6, 5-1) in the standings while seeing its six-game winning streak come to a close. Saturday's game, decided in the final seconds, marked the third straight home contest for the Golden Rams that went right down to the wire. West Chester defeated Gannon (73-72) and Lock Haven (91-87 OT) in the other two games.
 
Senior Shannon Givens drained three three-pointers in the final three minutes that helped West Chester snuff out a six-point Bloomsburg lead. His final triple of the night came with 13 seconds left in the game and put the Golden Rams in front, 76-75.
 
Saintilus was wide open on the baseline for his game-winning dunk.
 
The difference in the game was the Huskies' 17-6 advantage in second-chance points. Bloomsburg outrebounded West Chester by a 39-33 margin and made the most of its 11 offensive rebounds in the game. The Huskies also shot it just a little bit better than the Golden Rams, making 26 of 57 from the field (45.6 percent)  while the hosts shot 23 of 58 (39.7 percent).
 
West Chester put four players in double figures, led by Cory Blake's 15 points on the strength of 9-for-10 shooting from the free throw line. Troy Hockaday had 12 points, and Eric Frans and R.J. Griffin each contributed 10.
 
The Golden Rams will have one week to prepare for the undefeated and eighth-ranked East Stroudsburg University Warriors. West Chester and ESU tip it up next Saturday at Hollinger Field House at 3 p.m.