Purple Knights Advance To Sixth Straight ECC Men's Basketball Championship Final By Holding Off Molloy, 79-75
Sean Berry And JoJo Swift Notch Double-Double For The Winners
Bridgeport, Conn.-The number two seeded University of Bridgeport men's basketball team survived a strong comeback by the number three seeded Molloy College Lions in the semifinals of the 2014 East Coast Conference Championship Tournament, as the host Purple Knights held on to notch a 79-75 victory and advance to the team's sixth consecutive ECC Championship Tournament Final. UB will now host the number five seed St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans on Sunday, March 9 at 1:00 p.m. in the ECC Title Game, as the Spartans upset top-seed Dowling College 84-81 in overtime. The winner of the ECC Men's Basketball Title Game will receive and automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.
Bridgeport led by 19 points, 57-38 with 14:21 remaining in the game, but the Lions battled back to close the deficit to only four points, 69-65 with 4:52 to go before the hosts put the game away with a 6-0 run to go up by 10 points, 75-65 with 2:00 minutes to play. Molloy then closed the game out on a 10-4 run of its own to make the final score, 79-75.
UB senior Sean Berry (Irvington, N.J.) dominated the game for the victorious Purple Knights posting a monster double-double with a game-high 22 points and a game-leading 19 rebounds. Classmate JoJo Swift (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also had a double-double for Bridgeport with 12 points and 10 assists. Also reaching double-digit scoring for the winners were senior Ognjen Zoric (Subotica, Serbia) with 12 points, and sophomore Ernest Rouse (Freeport, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points off the Bridgeport bench.
Matt McLeod led four Molloy players in double figures with 18 points. The Lions' John Petrucelli, the 2014 East Coast Conference Player of the Year, closed out his stellar career in Rockville Center with 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Bridgeport heads into the ECC Finals with a 17-10 overall record. Molloy wraps up its season at 17-13.