Purple Knights Fall To Franklin Pierce, 57-52, In NCAA Division II East Regional Final

Manchester, N.H.-The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team saw its sparkling 2012-13 season come to end on Tuesday night in the NCAA Division II East Regional Finals in Manchester, N.H., as the seventh-seeded Purple Knights fell to the top-seeded Franklin Pierce Ravens, 57-52.  UB ends its season at 23-10; while the Ravens move on the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Louisville, Kentucky with a 24-8 record.  In the 2013 NCAA Division II East Regional, Bridgeport defeated the number two seed, St. Anselm and the number three seed Assumption before falling to top seed Franklin Pierce.

Senior Darian David (Bronx, N.Y.) led the Purple Knights in scoring with 18 points, and he was joined in double digits by classmate Dion Waiters (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 10 points.  David grabbed seven rebounds for the Purple Knights, and Waiters added eight boards and six steals.  Both Darian and Dion were selected to the 2013 NCAA Division II All-East Region Team along with Franklin Pierce's Ryen Vilmont, who led the Ravens with 18 points on the night, Eric Jean-Guillaume and Tournament Most Outstanding Player Ellis Cooper.

UB led 24-18 at the half, and by nine, 27-18, with 19:02 to play, but Franklin Pierce rallied to take a 38-36 lead with 8:22 to play which they never relinquished.

Both team struggled shooting the ball in the 2013 East Regional Final, as the Purple Knights connected on only 20 of 60 shots (33.3%), including only 3 of 17 three-point attempts, and FPU went `9 of 55 from the floor (34.5 %), including going 5 of 18 from three-point range (27.8%).

Bridgeport and Franklin Pierce combined for 42 turnovers, 21 for each team that the Ravens converted into 17 points to UB's nine.

This season marked the first time since 1992, and the fourth time in school history that the Bridgeport men's basketball program has advanced to the NCAA Division II East Regional Final.