Men's Hoops Drops Hard-Fought Home Contest To SCSU, 77-73

Bridgeport, Conn. – The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team battled local rival, the Owls of Southern Connecticut State University, to the final whistle on Sunday night in the last game of the 2013 University of Bridgeport Men's Basketball Classic, but in the end, SCSU, who led by as many as 11 points in the second half, closed the game out on 10-5 run over the final 5:45 to grab a hard-fought, 77-3 victory.  With the loss, Bridgeport is an even 1-1 on the young 2013-14 season, and Southern Connecticut is 2-0.

With the game tied 404-40 at halftime, the Owls started the final 20 minutes of action on 15-4 run to take an 11-point, 55-44 lead with 14:00 minutes to go in the game.  The Purple Knights would come back with a strong run of their own to grab a 68-67 lead with 5:45 to play when junior Sean Berry (Irvington, N.J.)  hit two free throws.

SCSU would come back to take a 71-68 lead which they never relinquished when Tylon Smith made back-to-back lay-ups at the 5:00 and 4:15 marks.

The Owls Greg Langston led all scorers on the night with 26 points.

UB's JoJo Swift (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led his team with 17 points, and he also had nine assists.

Swift was joined in double-digit scoring by junior Antoine Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and sophomore Ernest Rouse (Freeport, N.Y.) with 14 points each, plus senior Curtis Loving (Harlem, N.Y.) chipped in 13 points.

Free throws were a key factor in the game, as SCSU went 20-of-24 from the line, and UB was 15-of-23.

The Bridgeport men's basketball team is back in action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Post University for a 3:00 p.m. game.