UB Men Stay Perfect In February With Comeback, 79-73, Win At NYIT
Team Rallies From 13-Point Deficit With 6:27 To Play
Old Westbury, N.Y.-The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team stayed unbeaten in the month of February and raised its winning streak to six games, as the Purple Knights staged a furious rally over the final 6:27 of play to pull out an important 79-73 East Coast Conference road win over the host NYIT Bears on Saturday afternoon on Long Island. With the victory, Bridgeport is now 14-9 overall and 12-5 in the ECC. NYIT slips to 9-13 overall and 7-9 in conference play.
Saturday's action got off to a good start for the visitors, as UB led 9-0 and 15-4, but the host Bears would fight back to take a 37-26 halftime lead. NYIT would extend its advantage to a game-best 13 point lead, 70-57, with 6:27 to play. From that point on, it was all Purple Knights, as UB closed the game on a 22-3 run to claim the win. After an Ernest Rouse (So., Freeport, N.Y.) three-point shot gave Bridgeport a 71-70 lead with 3:41 to go, NYIT would knot the game at 71-71 with 3:05 remaining before a Sean Berry (Jr. Irvington, N.J.) lay-up gave the visitors an 73-71 lead which they never relinquished.
Berry notched a double-double for the winners with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Bridgeport senior Curtis Loving (Harlem, N.Y.) was also a key cog in the victory scoring 18 points off the bench and providing a defensive spark.
Junior Antoine Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 13 points and senior JoJo Swift (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 10 points also reached double-digit scoring for the Purple Knights. Swift had six assists and three steals to lead Bridgeport in those categories.
UB senior Ivan Simic (Belgrade, Serbia) was just short of a double-double for UB with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Markus Moore led NYIT with 23 points.
Saturday's victory avenges a heart-breaking, one-point loss at the buzzer to the Bears at home by the Purple Knights in January.
Bridgeport will continue its three-game road trip on Friday night, as the team travels to Rochester, New York to face Roberts Wesleyan College. Action is slated to begin at 8:00 p.m. on February 21.