Men's Basketball Clinches ECC Regular Season Crown With 67-63 Win Over St. Thomas Aquinas
Game Featured The Top Two Teams In The East Coast Conference And The NCAA East Regional Rankings
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Thomas Aquinas
22-5, 12-3 ECC
|
33 | 30 | 63 |
|
Bridgeport
22-3, 14-1 ECC
|
28 | 39 | 67 |
Team Stats
St. Thomas Aquinas
| Game Statistics | St. Thomas Aquinas | Bridgeport |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (25-57) | (23-60) |
| Field Goal % | 43.9% | 38.3% |
| Rebounds | 39 | 38 |
| Assists | 17 | 11 |
| Turnovers | 20 | 16 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 20 | 22 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 11 | 12 |
| Pts in the Paint | 36 | 28 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 18 | 8 |
| Bench Pts | 12 | 8 |
Bridgeport, Conn.-The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team clinched the 2019-20 East Coast Conference regular season title with a hard-fought, 67-63 comeback win over the visiting St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans on Wednesday night in a battle of, not only the ECC's top two teams, but the top two squads in the NCAA Division II East Region rankings. The top-ranked Purple Knights, winners of 18 of their last 19 games, are now 22-3 overall and 14-1 in the ECC. The second-ranked Spartans are now 22-5 overall and 12-3 in conference play.
Wednesday's tilt was a back-and-forth affair that featured eight ties and seven lead changes.
After shooting just 28.1 percent (9-of-32), UB trailed 33-28 at halftime, but the hosts improved their shooting to 50.0 percent (14-of-28) to outscore the visitors 39-30 over the final 20 minutes of action to come away with the victory.
The Purple Knights trailed by one, 58-57, with 3:52 to play, before senior Bakary Camara (Harlem, N.Y.) hit two free throws to give his team a 59-58 lead which they never relinquished. Camara finished as his team's leading scorer with a game-high 16 points, and he tied for the team-lead in rebounding with seven boards.
He was joined in double figures by junior Travis Robinson-Morgan (Elmont, N.Y.) with 14 points, sophomore Jayden Iturmendi (York, Pa.) netted 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, plus junior Hashem Abbas (Nablus, Palestine) scored 11 points for the winners.
Bridgeport senior guard D'Vonne Trumbo (Pilesgrove, N.J.) had a solid all-around game with seven assists, six points and five rebounds. Those seven assists leave Trumbo only three shy of 500 for his career, which would make him only the sixth player in program history to reach that mark.
Grant Singleton four STAC players in double figures with 14 points.
Up next, the UB men's basketball team closes out its regular season schedule at home on Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. Senior Day game versus Mercy College.