Ragab
Matt Durisko
53
Bloomsburg BU 2-7,1-4 PSAC
81
Winner Gannon Gannon 7-2,4-1 PSAC
Bloomsburg BU
2-7,1-4 PSAC
53
Final
81
Gannon Gannon
7-2,4-1 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Bloomsburg BU 15 38 53
Gannon Gannon 35 46 81

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Gannon Turns Up the D in 81-53 Win over Bloomsburg

ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon men's basketball team wrapped up the 2021 portion of its schedule in impressive fashion, handing Bloomsburg an 81-53 defeat on Sunday afternoon at the Hammermill Center. It marked the third win for the Golden Knights over a PSAC East foe in the last six days and the second by more than 20 points in the last 24 hours.

Head coach Kelvin Jefferson's squad improved to 7-2 on the season and 4-1 in PSAC play, while Bloomsburg lost its second straight game to fall to 2-7 and 1-4, respectively. Gannon now takes a well-deserved break to enjoy the holidays before beginning the New Year with a showdown against third-ranked and crosstown-rival Mercyhurst on Wednesday, January 5 at the Hammermill Center.

Sunday's win can be attributed to a swarming defense and the continuing emergence of seven-foot freshman Ali Ragab (Cairo, Egypt/Rocktop Academy). The Gannon defense collared the Huskies in the first half, holding them to 15 points and 18.8 percent shooting from the floor (6-of-32). While they warned up a bit in the second half, the 53 points Bloomsburg scored was a season-low and the lowest total by a GU opponent this year. BU would shoot 26.9 percent for the game (18-of-67). Gannon has scored 80-or-more points in five of nine games this season.

Ragab, meanwhile, came off the bench to play 19 minutes and record his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. All were season highs for the native of Cairo, Egypt. He made 7-of-8 field goals and his lone free throw attempt, adding three blocked shots.

For the second straight day Gannon had five players in double figures, with Ike Herster (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) leading in scoring for the fourth straight game. The redshirt freshman guard made 4-of-8 3-pointers to finish with 16 points. Demetrius Mims (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) added 12 points, making 6-of-10 field goals, and six rebounds. Lance-Amir Paul (Kingston, Jamaica/Putnam Science Academy) totaled 11 points, five rebounds and five assists. Chris Clancy (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) was the fifth player in double digits with 10 points, adding four assists. Ten different players entered the scoring column, and nine players saw 15-or-more minutes of action.

Gannon ended the day shooting 55.0 percent from the floor (33-of-60), the second time this season over 50 percent. That included a 7-for-22 figure from beyond the arc, along with making 8-of-12 free throws.

While shooting 26.9 percent from the floor, the Huskies were 4-of-26 on 3-pointers and made 13-of-21 free throws. Bloomsburg held a narrow 41-40 advantage in rebounds, just the second time this season the Knights have been outrebounded. Gannon dominated in the paint, outscoring Bloomsburg 50-22.

Gannon trailed just once in the contest, that at 2-0 after a Justin Anderson basket. The Golden Knights proceeded to go on a 16-4 run, with Ragab scoring the final two baskets. Bloomsburg would never get closer than eight points the rest of game, as the lead grew to as much as 21 points in the opening twenty minutes before Gannon went to the locker room with a 35-15 lead. The Knights held Bloomsburg without a point for almost six minutes before the Huskies made one-of-two free throws with 23 seconds remaining.

A hustling Bloomsburg team under one-time Gannon assistant coach John Sanow, closed the gap to 14 points on two occasions in the second half, the latter at 46-32 with 11:26 to play. Over the next four minutes Gannon outscored the Huskies, 16-4, with Ragab scoring the first five points, as the lead bulged to 62-36 with 7:17 to play. GU's lead eventually grew to as much as 32 points at 72-40 with just under four minutes remaining.

Justin Rodriguez led Bloomsburg with 16 points, while Jake Nelson contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. Gannon limited Anderson, one of the leading scorers in the PSAC, to eight points.
 
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