Men's Basketball Comes Back From As Many As 17 Down To Defeat Bloomfield, 108-100

Bridgeport, Conn. – It came down to the final five minutes as the University of Bridgeport (4-2) men's basketball team eased as much as a 17-point deficit to defeat the visiting Bloomfield Bears (2-4) 108-100 on Saturday afternoon at Hubbell Gymnasium. Leading the Purple Knights was Eric Rankin who finished with 22 points, leading six Bridgeport Players in double figures.

Rankin's 22 points came on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, while he also connected on a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line. Joining him in leading the Bridgeport attack was Hashem Abbas with 19 points as he connected on 8-of-12 from the field for a 75 percent shooting effort. Rounding out the leading scorers was Vakas Iqbal (15), Travis Robinson-Morgan (12), John Middleton (12) and Jayden Iturmendi (11).

Overall for the game, Bridgeport shot 50.7 percent from the field, combining for 38 field goals in 75 attempts. After being outscored by 13 in the opening half, the Purple Knights responded, by using a 63-42 advantage in the final 20 minutes to earn the victory. Nearly half of Bridgeport's points in the second half came at the free throw line where they connected on 27-of-29 attempts for an impressive 93.1 percent effort.  The win for Bridgeport broke a two-game skid for the Purple Knights, while UB has now won all four games when it has scored over the 100-point mark.

The Purple Knights return to the court on Wednesday, December 5 when they open up ECC play with a visit from the UDC Firebirds. Tip-off at Hubbell Gymnasium is slated for 7:00 p.m.